The Efficiency of Sclerophrys regularis as a Bioindicator

Noura, Khattab,Boshra, El-Salkh,Samy, Saber,Rashad, Said

doi:10.21608/eajbsz.2021.154321

Noura, Khattab, Boshra, El-Salkh + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.21608/eajbsz.2021.154321

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Abstract

Many populations of amphibians are facing remarkable decline throughout the world. The reason for the decline is a direct response to habitat destruction and pollution including heavy metals. The blood of the toad is vascular and very plastic tissue. In fact, a variation of several hematological parameters in response to natural changes in the environment has been widely described previously. Since hematological parameters are influenced by a variety of environmental stressors, they have the potential to be used as biomarkers of aquatic pollution. Heavy metals are difficult to remove from the environment and cannot be degraded biologically. The current study assessed the impact of some heavy metals on hematological and serological parameters in the Egyptian toad (Sclerophrys regularis) from two different localities (North Giza and El Wahat regions). The current results have revealed a reduction in the means of RBCs, hemoglobin, and hematocrit values in addition to a remarkable increase in WBCs. In addition, the major serological parameters including protein, albumin, AST, and ALT were also altered in parallel with the deterioration that occurred between the two investigated regions. The present findings have revealed and confirmed that the Abu Rawash area is more impacted compared to El Bawiti.

Highlights

Amphibians play a pivotal role in properly functioning ecosystems, sharing in nutrient cycling, bio duration, energy flow, food webs, and other ecosystem dynamics (Hocking and Babbitt, 2014; Cortés-Gómez et al, 2015)
Six major threats have been traditionally linked to amphibian declines: habitat loss and fragmentation, commercial overexploitation, introduced species, environmental contaminants, global climate change, and emerging infectious diseases (Bishop et al, 2012)
Recent evidence suggests that the causes of the amphibian declines are probably more variable and locally-driven than previously assumed (Campbell Grant et al, 2016)

Summary

Introduction

Amphibians play a pivotal role in properly functioning ecosystems, sharing in nutrient cycling, bio duration, energy flow, food webs, and other ecosystem dynamics (Hocking and Babbitt, 2014; Cortés-Gómez et al, 2015) These animals provide additional ecosystem services valuable to humans, such as regulating pests, serving as a food source, functioning as models for medical research, and giving enjoyment and intangible contributions that vary across cultures (Warkentin et al, 2009). Severe environmental degradation is a logical reason responsible for declining (Blaustein and Johnson, 2003) Because of their central place in the food chain (being both prey and predator), amphibians often utilize both terrestrial and aquatic habitats and can have very different feeding ecologies at different stages of their life. The name Sclerophrys regularis (Reuss, 1833) was applied (Borkin and Litvinchuk, 2013; Ohler and Dubois, 2016)

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