Case Study 2B - Aquatic/terrestrial (amphibians)

Pollutant transfer and effects in the interface between aquatic and terrestrial environments

Versión en Español

Institution(s) and Lead Researcher(s)

Institutions: UCLM

Case Study Coordinators: Manuel Ortiz-Santaliestra

Objectives / Hypothesis

Address how environmental pollutants, and their effects, return from water to land, to provide a reference scenario for an aquatic-terrestrial combined risk assessment

Description of the case study

The CS 2B aims to assess the impact of agrochemical runoff from surrounding agricultural lands on amphibian populations and their ecosystem. 

This is achieved by modelling pollutant transport to ponds, determining pollutant levels in water and amphibians, evaluating the effects of these pollutants on amphibian health and behaviour, and monitoring changes in amphibian populations and their ecological interactions.

Case Study Goal

  • Exposure assessment: Estimates of pollutant inputs to ponds

  • Effect assessment 

    - Food reduction

    - Pollutant mobilization effects

    - Trophic transfer of accumulated pollutants

    - Late effects of early exposure

  • Biodiversity monitoring - Characterization of amphibian community, as well as those of prey and predators of amphibians

Species

  • Sharp-ribbed salamander (Pleurodeles waltl)

  • Southwestern spadefoot took (Pelobates cultripes)

  • Iberian water frog (Pelophylax perezi)

  • Amphibian predators: e.g. dice snake (Natrix tessellata)

  • Amphibian prey: aquatic: e.g. Daphnia, terrestiral: e.g. ants

Photos from field work in SYBERAC Case Study 2B

Frog on glove during field work
Small white daisies with yellow centers growing in wet, muddy ground with green grass and plants scattered throughout.
Person in black clothing standing at the edge of a small body of water, using a net to scoop something from the water, with a landscape of grass, trees, hills, and a partly cloudy sky in the background.

Involved stakeholders

  1. Spanish and European herpetological NGOs (AHE, SEH)

  2. Spanish crop protection association (AEPLA)

  3. Farmers associations (ASAJA)

  4. Regional and national authorities with competence in environment and agriculture

  5. Office for registration of PPP in Spain (INIA)

Locations

Map of Spain showing land utilization with areas marked for forest, pasture, crops, cereals, Mediterranean agriculture, and tree crops, including cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and the Balearic and Canary Islands.

Description:

  • Water bodies and their surroundings located in agricultural-dominated landscapes in central Spain.

A peaceful landscape with a calm body of water, grassy banks, and trees under a partly cloudy sky.

Learn more about the case study

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