Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation on Boreal Toads in Colorado
Corn PS. 1998. Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation on Boreal Toads in Colorado. Ecological Applications. 8(1):18-26
Field exposures of Bufo boreas embryos to fractions of ambient UV-B radiation at two sites in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA, were conducted to evaluate UV-B as a possible cause of recent severe declines of this species. There were no differences in hatching success of B. boreas embryos exposed to 0-100% of ambient UV-B radiation at either study site, results that are different from those of recent studies in Oregon that found increased mortality of B. boreas embryos exposed to ambient UV-B. The reasons for these differing results are not apparent, and several possible explanations exist, including differences in experimental design, presence or absence of a pathogenic fungus, and geographic genetic variation. Bufo boreas embryos were probably not receiving higher doses of UV-B radiation during the experiments in Oregon compared to the experiments in this study. Results of this study do not support UV-B radiation alone as the cause of the decline of B. boreas during the past 20 yr in the southern Rocky Mountains, but UV-B cannot be dismissed because of the contradictory results from other studies.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Corn, Paul
- Units
- DEVA , ROMO
- Keywords
- Absence (Biodiversity), Abundance (Biodiversity), Amphibia (Amphibians), amphibian population declines, Anura (Frogs Toads), Aquatic Studies, Atmosphere, Bufo boreas (Western Toad), Bufo boreas boreas (Boreal Toad), Bufonidae (Toads Bufonids), Colorado, Distribution (Biodiversity), Ecology, IAR, ozone depletion, Presence (Biodiversity), Rocky Mountain National Park, Solar Radiation, Taxa Links To Datasets, Taxa Links To References, Ultraviolet Radiation, UV radiation, Weather