The Movement of Soil Water across the Isolated Amphibian Skin
Hillyard SD. 1976. The Movement of Soil Water across the Isolated Amphibian Skin. Copeia. 1976(2):314-320
Water flux was measured across isolated amphibian skin having the inner surface bathed with Ringer's solutions and the outer surface in contact with soils of various water potentials. Net water flux was inward across skins of the fossorial anurans Bufo cognatus and Scaphiopus couchi when the water potential of the soil was -4.0, -5.6 and -14.1 bars, provided that the water potential of the Ringer's was lower than that of the soil. Inward water movement across isolated skins of the semiaquatic frog, Rana pipiens, was only observed in the presence of a larger water potential gradient than was required to produce inward movement across B. cognatus and S. couchi skin. Greater amounts of soil were absorbed to the outer surface of B. cognatus and S. couchi skin suggesting that the contact between the skin and the soil may be an important factor in the absorption of soil moisture by amphibians.