Oral Presentation Society for Freshwater Science 2025 Annual Meeting

Impacts of Microcystis and Microplastics exposure on green frog tadpole length, weight, and body condition. (117589)

Ali Shakoor 1 , Donna Kashian 1
  1. Wayne State University, MI, -

Aquatic systems are increasingly impacted by multiple stressors. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are occurring with increased frequency and duration, concurrently with increasing quantities of microplastics. Both have known individual environmental impacts, but interactive effects are poorly understood and even less is known about their impacts on amphibians. Many nutrient rich shallow nearshore areas of the Great Lakes frequently experience HABs dominated by Microcystis spp., while also being subject to runoff ladened with microplastics. These nearshore areas, including Great Lake coastal wetlands, are important habitats for amphibian species. The objective of this study was to determine the impacts of environmentally relevant levels of Microcystis ichthyoblabe and microplastics on green frog tadpoles. Green frog tadpoles were hatched from wild collected eggs and raised in environmental chambers for five weeks, until exogenously feeding. Tadpoles were then exposed to two concentrations (1x104 cells/ml and 4x104 cells/mL) of M.ichthyoblabe, and Chlamydomonus, a non-toxin producing green algae, and 10mg/L of microplastics across all treatments. Tadpole length, weight, and body condition were measured after 14 days. Preliminary results indicate high concentration of cyanobacteria and microplastics negatively impacted growth of green frog tadpoles. Understanding how early life-history stages of green frogs interact with stressors, such as HABs and microplastics, may lead to a better understanding of how they may affect frog populations, thereby providing valuable information to help understand how trophic interactions are impacted by these stressors.