Agrochemicals increase trematode infections in a declining amphibian species

Jason R. Rohr (), Anna M. Schotthoefer, Thomas R. Raffel, Hunter J. Carrick, Neal Halstead, Jason T. Hoverman, Catherine M. Johnson, Lucinda B. Johnson, Camilla Lieske, Marvin D. Piwoni, Patrick K. Schoff and Val R. Beasley
Additional contact information
Jason R. Rohr: University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA
Anna M. Schotthoefer: College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61802, USA
Thomas R. Raffel: University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA
Hunter J. Carrick: School of Forest Resources, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
Neal Halstead: University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA
Jason T. Hoverman: Wildlife and Fisheries, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-4563, USA
Catherine M. Johnson: Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota 55811, USA
Lucinda B. Johnson: Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota 55811, USA
Camilla Lieske: College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61802, USA
Marvin D. Piwoni: Illinois Waste Management and Research Center, Champaign, Illinois 61820, USA
Patrick K. Schoff: Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota 55811, USA
Val R. Beasley: College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61802, USA

Nature, 2008, vol. 455, issue 7217, 1235-1239

Abstract: Disappearing amphibians: agrochemicals implicated Declining amphibian populations have been reported in the past twenty years from locations all over the world. These events have been attributed variously — often without much evidence — to habitat loss, climate change and disease. Now a case study of the northern leopard frog, Rana pipiens, in wetlands across Minnesota points to the use of agrochemicals — combined with parasitic infestation — as a contributor to population decline. The study sought factors associated with the abundance of larval trematodes in the frogs. An abundance of these parasites can be debilitating, causing limb malformation, kidney damage and death. Of more than 240 plausible predictors of trematode infection — ranging from the presence of various plant and animal species to agrochemicals and habitat geography — two stood out: the herbicide atrazine and the fertilizer, phosphate. Atrazine and phosphate are principal agrochemicals for corn and sorghum production, and together they accounted for 74% of the variation in trematode abundance.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07281

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