WARD, C. K.*; MENDONCA, M. T.: The Effect of Coal Fly Ash on Corticosterone, Testosterone and Weight in the Southern Toads, Bufo terrestris

Southern toads (Bufo terrestris) are found during the breeding season at coal fly ash basins, which contain large concentrations of heavy metals, at the Savannah River Site, in Aiken, South Carolina. Toads in this environment, although exposed to heavy metal waste from early spring to late fall, still exhibit reproductive behavior and produce gametes. Reproductive behavior in such a stressful environment raises questions as to how these toads may be coping with long-term exposure to heavy metals. Male toads were collected, bled, and weighed in early spring from two sites, a coal fly ash basin and a control site. The toads were then divided into four groups: toads collected at the reference site and maintained on either reference substrate and food, or coal fly ash substrate and contaminated food and toads collected at the contaminated site and maintained on either control substrate and food, or coal fly ash substrate and contaminated food. All toads were kept outdoors in 55-gallon mesocosms. Toads were weighed and blood samples taken every week for the first 4 weeks and every 3 weeks for the next 5 months to determine plasma levels of testosterone (T) and corticosterone(B). Toads maintained on ash, regardless of capture site, tended to gain less weight than those maintained on control substrate, with ash to ash toads showing the lowest rate of weight change. Additionally, these toads displayed differing T and B profiles.