Swimming in troubled waters: ambient levels of common pollutants have little effect on the regional distribution and swimming behavior of two New Jersey anurans

Environmental conservation efforts to protect amphibian habitat would be greatly aided with information about amphibian habitat selection and requirements as well as information about tolerance to common pollutants. In the past several decades the effects of pollutants on amphibian distribution and physiology have increased. However, uncertainty about effects still exists given the number of different amphibian species, and the large amount of variation shown in the results of the studies that have been conducted. Lithobates kauffeldi, a species that was just recently discovered, was listed as a species of concern in New York and is also known for its occurrence in highly urbanized and agricultural habitats, so I wanted to determine if the distribution of Lithobates kauffeldi could be predicted by water quality. Using field observations of New Jersey and New York wetlands and laboratory measurements of five water quality parameters (salinity, nitrogen- and phosphorus-containing compounds, and pH) and other environmental characteristics, I determined that the only water quality variable that was different between sites was phosphate and the only vegetative difference between sites was the presence of Queen Anne’s Lace. While conducting the first study, I observed frogs in habitats that I would have thought were too salty for them to survive and reproduce, so I wanted to explore how behavior might be related to salt exposure. Using Lithobates palustris tadpoles in a series of outdoor experiments, I found that only the proportion of the experimental arena explored, and the total distance swam in the behavior experiment differed between treatments. Both studies attempted to shed a deeper understanding on the influence of water quality on New Jersey and New York amphibians, particularly two understudied species.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference