Effects of pH, aluminium, and soft water on larvae of the amphibians Bufo bufo and Triturus vulgaris

Abstract

Larval Bufo bufo (L., 1758) and Triturus vulgaris (L., 1758) were exposed to soft water (0.5 mg·L–1 Ca2+) experimentally acidified to pH 3.9 to 5.9 and total aluminium concentrations of <10, 150, and 300 µg·L–1. Below pH 4.5 both species experienced increased mortality. The LC50 (168 h) for <10 and 150 µg·L–1 Al was pH 4.3 and 4.1 for B. bufo and 4.2 and 4.1 for T. vulgaris. However, Al3+ increased the survival of both species, which may be due to the contribution of Al3+ to the ionic strength. No B. bufo larvae died at pH >4.5, whereas T. vulgaris at higher Al concentrations suffered relatively high mortality at pH 5.1–5.9, where Al occurs mainly as Al(OH)2+ and Al(OH)2+. Unlike external gills (T. vulgaris), internal gills (B. bufo) have their own internal environment and are probably better protected against the presence of these toxic Al species in the water. These Al species thus seem to be toxic to T. vulgaris larvae but not to B. bufo. Chloride was seen to be important for survival in water of low ionic strength, since the survival of T. vulgaris larvae, particularly at low Al concentration, increased at pH levels down to pH 4.3 when the water was acidified with HCl.