Ambient UV-B radiation causes deformities in amphibian embryos
- *Department of Zoology, 3029 Cordley Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-2914; ‡School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 370 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511; ¶Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maine, 5751 Murray Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5751; and **Biological Resources Division, United States Geological Survey, Oregon Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-3803
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Communicated by George N. Somero, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA (received for review August 11, 1997)
Abstract
There has been a great deal of recent attention on the suspected increase in amphibian deformities. However, most reports of amphibian deformities have been anecdotal, and no experiments in the field under natural conditions have been performed to investigate this phenomenon. Under laboratory conditions, a variety of agents can induce deformities in amphibians. We investigated one of these agents, UV-B radiation, in field experiments, as a cause for amphibian deformities. We monitored hatching success and development in long-toed salamanders under UV-B shields and in regimes that allowed UV-B radiation. Embryos under UV-B shields had a significantly higher hatching rate and fewer deformities, and developed more quickly than those exposed to UV-B. Deformities may contribute directly to embryo mortality, and they may affect an individual’s subsequent survival after hatching.
