Agricultural Ponds Research Articles

Effect of Catchment Land Use on Trophic State Variables of Small Water Bodies (Northern Poland)

We examined the land use impact on the water quality of small water bodies located in northern Poland. Twenty nine ponds, located in the urban area or a typical agricultural land were analyzed based on physical-chemical parameters: water temperature, conductivity, oxygen concentration, content of particulate suspended matter and chlorophyll “a”, and nutrients concentration. Additionally, to describe and compare the trophic condition of investigated small water bodies, we used the Carlson type trophic state. Performed measurements showed that nutrient concentrations significantly differentiated the agricultural ponds from urban water bodies. Mean total phosphorus and nitrogen concentration in midfield ponds were about 5 and 3 times higher, respectively, than in urban ponds. Moreover the phytoplankton chlorophyll “a” mean values were on average fivefold higher in agricultural ponds. Furthermore, urban ponds were characterized by lower values of TSI, thus lower trophy level: generally on the border of meso- and eutrophy. The agricultural ponds trophy changed from meso- to hypertrophy.

Effect of photo-biodegradation and biodegradation on the biogeochemical cycling of dissolved organic matter across diverse surface water bodies.

The objective of this research was to quantify the temporal variation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in five distinct waterbodies in watersheds with diverse types of land use and land cover in the presence and absence of sunlight. The water bodies were an agricultural pond, a lake in a forested watershed, a man-made reservoir, an estuary, and a bay. Two sets of samples were prepared by dispensing unfiltered samples into filtered samples in 1:10 ratio (V/V). The first set was exposed to sunlight (10 hr per day for 30 days) for examining the combined effect of photo-biodegradation, while the second set was stored in dark for examining biodegradation alone. Spectroscopic measurements in tandem with multivariate statistics were used to interpret DOM lability and composition. The results suggest that the agricultural pond behaved differently compared to other study locations during degradation experiments due to the presence of higher amount of microbial humic-like and protein-like components derived from microbial/anthropogenic sources. For all samples, a larger decrease in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration (10.12% ± 9.81% for photo-biodegradation and 6.65% ± 2.83% for biodegradation) and rapid transformation of DOM components (i.e., terrestrial humic-like components into microbial humic and protein-like components) were observed during photo-biodegradation experiments. Results suggest that sunlight facilitated DOM biodegradation, resulting in simpler recalcitrant molecules regardless of original composition. Overall, it was found that combined effects of light and bacteria are more efficient than bacterial effects alone in remineralizing and altering DOM, which highlights the crucial importance of sunlight in transforming aquatic DOM.

Agricultural Freshwater Pond Supports Diverse and Dynamic Bacterial and Viral Populations.

Agricultural ponds have a great potential as a means of capture and storage of water for irrigation. However, pond topography (small size, shallow depth) leaves them susceptible to environmental, agricultural, and anthropogenic exposures that may influence microbial dynamics. Therefore, the aim of this project was to characterize the bacterial and viral communities of pond water in the Mid-Atlantic United States with a focus on the late season (October–December), where decreasing temperature and nutrient levels can affect the composition of microbial communities. Ten liters of freshwater from an agricultural pond were sampled monthly, and filtered sequentially through 1 and 0.2 μm filter membranes. Total DNA was then extracted from each filter, and the bacterial communities were characterized using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The remaining filtrate was chemically concentrated for viruses, DNA-extracted, and shotgun sequenced. Bacterial community profiling showed significant fluctuations over the sampling period, corresponding to changes in the condition of the pond freshwater (e.g., pH, nutrient load). In addition, there were significant differences in the alpha-diversity and core bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) between water fractions filtered through different pore sizes. The viral fraction was dominated by tailed bacteriophage of the order Caudovirales, largely those of the Siphoviridae family. Moreover, while present, genes involved in virulence/antimicrobial resistance were not enriched within the viral fraction during the study period. Instead, the viral functional profile was dominated by phage associated proteins, as well as those related to nucleotide production. Overall, these data suggest that agricultural pond water harbors a diverse core of bacterial and bacteriophage species whose abundance and composition are influenced by environmental variables characteristic of pond topology and the late season.

Pond and Irrigation Model (PIM): a Tool for Simultaneously Evaluating Pond Water Availability and Crop Irrigation Demand

Agricultural ponds are an important alternative source of water for crop irrigation to conserve surface and ground water resources. In recent years more such ponds have been constructed in Mississippi and around the world. There is currently, however, a lack of a tool to simultaneously estimate crop irrigation demand and pond water availability. In this study, a Pond-Irrigation Model (PIM) was developed to meet this need using STELLA (Structural Thinking, Experiential Learning Laboratory with Animation) software. PIM simulated crop land and agricultural pond hydrological processes such as surface runoff, soil drainage, and evapotranspiration as well as crop irrigation demand and pond water availability. More importantly, PIM was able to decide when to conduct crop irrigation based on management allowable depletion (MAD) root zone soil water content and to determine optimal ratios of agricultural pond size to crop land with sufficient pond water available for crop irrigation. As a case demonstration, the model was applied to concomitantly estimate row crops (i.e., corn, cotton, and soybeans) water irrigation demand and pond water availability in a farm located at East-central Mississippi. Simulations revealed that corn used more soil water for growth than soybeans, whereas soybeans needed more irrigation water than corn and occurred due to less rainwater available for soybeans growth. We also found that there was one time for corn, zero time for cotton, and two times for soybeans when the pond water level was drawn to near zero for irrigation from 2005 to 2014. PIM developed in this study is a useful tool for estimating crop irrigation demand and pond water availability simultaneously.

Mitigating agricultural nitrogen load with constructed ponds in northern latitudes: A field study on sedimental denitrification rates

Constructed agricultural ponds and wetlands can reduce nitrogen loading from agriculture especially in areas where warm climate predominates. However, in cold climate temperature-dependency of microbiological processes have raised the question about the applicability of constructed wetlands in N removal. We measured in situ denitrification rates in a constructed agricultural pond using 15N-isotope pairing technique at ambient light and temperature throughout a year as well as diurnally. The field IPT measurements were combined with a wide set of potentially important explanatory data, including air temperature, photosynthetically active radiation, precipitation, discharge, nitrate plus other water quality variables, sediment temperature, oxygen concentration and penetration depth, diffusive oxygen uptake and sediment organic carbon. Denitrification varied, on average, diurnally between 12 and 314 μmol N m−2 h−1 and seasonally between 0 and 12409 μmol N m−2 d−1. Light and oxygen regulated the diel variation of denitrification, but seasonally denitrification was governed by a combination of temperature, oxygen and turbidity. The results indicated that the real N removal rate might be 30–35% higher than the measured daytime rates, suggesting that neglecting the diel variation of denitrification we may underestimate N removal capacity of shallow sediments. We conclude, that by following recommended wetland:catchment – size ratios, boreal agricultural ponds can efficiently remove nitrogen by denitrification in summer and in autumn, while in winter and in spring the contribution of denitrification might be negligible relative to the loading, especially with short residence time.

In Situ Water Quality Measurements Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) System

An unmanned aerial vehicle-assisted water quality measurement system (UAMS) was developed for in situ surface water quality measurement. A custom-built hexacopter was equipped with an open-source electronic sensors platform to measure the temperature, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), and pH of water. Electronic components of the system were coated with a water-resistant film, and the hexacopter was assembled with flotation equipment. The measurements were made at thirteen sampling waypoints within a 1.1 ha agricultural pond. Measurements made by an open-source multiprobe meter (OSMM) attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) were compared to the measurements made by a commercial multiprobe meter (CMM). Percent differences between the OSMM and CMM measurements for DO, EC, pH, and temperature were 2.1 %, 3.43 %, 3.76 %, and <1.0 %, respectively. The collected water quality data was used to interpret the spatial distribution of measurements in the pond. The UAMS successfully made semiautonomous in situ water quality measurements from predetermined waypoints. Water quality maps showed homogeneous distribution of measured constituents across the pond. The concept presented in this paper can be applied to the monitoring of water quality in larger surface waterbodies.

Assessment of Water Quality in Agricultural Ponds and Prospects for Improvement of the Water Environment

Assessment of Water Quality in Agricultural Ponds and Prospects for Improvement of the Water Environment

The 137Cs activity concentration of suspended and dissolved fractions in irrigation waters collected from the 80 km zone around TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Fifty-four samples of irrigation water were collected in 2014 from agricultural ponds, rivers, and dams within the 80 km zone around TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS). The samples were filtered with a 0.45 μm pore-size membrane filter to produce suspended and dissolved fractions. The 137Cs activity concentration of the suspended fraction varied from 1.5 to 300 Bq g−1 dry weight and was significantly higher than that in the soil around each sampling site. The range of 137Cs activity concentrations in the dissolved fraction varied over three orders of magnitude at 0.0075–6.7 Bq l−1, which was a larger range than that of the suspended fraction; the higher values for samples were from within the 20 km zone. In the dissolved fraction 87 ± 9% of the 137Cs (n = 37) was in a monovalent cationic form (Cs+) and therefore potentially mobile. The distribution coefficient (Kd) ranged from 4100 to 2,100,000; the geometric mean value (110,000) was higher than that reported by the IAEA (2010). The geometric mean Kd of samples collected from the 20 km zone was 61,000 (n = 27), which was significantly lower than that collected from 20 to 80 km zone (200,000, n = 27). The Kd-value was negative correlated with the concentration of stable 133Cs and the electric conductivity in the dissolved fraction. This shows relatively higher mobility of radiocaesium in irrigation waters may occur when there are higher contents of cations present.

Habitat-related variation in the plasticity of a UV-sensitive photoreceptor over a small spatial scale in the palmate newt.

Plastic phenotypes are expected to be favoured in heterogeneous environments compared with stable environments. Sensory systems are interesting to test this theory because they are costly to produce and support, and strong fitness costs are expected if they are not tuned to the local environment. Consistently, the visual system of several species changes with the conditions experienced during early development. However, there is little information on whether the amplitude of the change, that is the reaction norm, differs between visual environments. Given the rapid change of many ecosystems, especially eutrophication for aquatic habitats, it is crucial to determine down to which spatial scale, change in the reaction norm occurs. We addressed this issue by quantifying the between-habitat variation in the expression of a UV-sensitive opsin in a newt. In western France, this species breeds in ponds of small forest patches, where water filters out UV, and in agricultural ponds where UV transmission is variable. We raised larvae from both habitats with or without exposure to UV. Opsin expression was reduced in larvae from agricultural habitats when raised without UV, whereas it was low in larvae from forest ponds under all lighting conditions. Thus, the variation in the reaction norm of opsin expression was lower in stable filtering environments and higher in heterogeneous environments. Its variation occurred between habitats across a small spatial scale. We discuss the hypotheses for this pattern and for the maintenance of residual opsin expression in forest populations.

Microbial quality of agricultural water in Central Florida.

The microbial quality of water that comes into the edible portion of produce is believed to directly relate to the safety of produce, and metrics describing indicator organisms are commonly used to ensure safety. The US FDA Produce Safety Rule (PSR) sets very specific microbiological water quality metrics for agricultural water that contacts the harvestable portion of produce. Validation of these metrics for agricultural water is essential for produce safety. Water samples (500 mL) from six agricultural ponds were collected during the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 growing seasons (46 and 44 samples respectively, 540 from all ponds). Microbial indicator populations (total coliforms, generic Escherichia coli, and enterococci) were enumerated, environmental variables (temperature, pH, conductivity, redox potential, and turbidity) measured, and pathogen presence evaluated by PCR. Salmonella isolates were serotyped and analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Following rain events, coliforms increased up to 4.2 log MPN/100 mL. Populations of coliforms and enterococci ranged from 2 to 8 and 1 to 5 log MPN/100 mL, respectively. Microbial indicators did not correlate with environmental variables, except pH (P<0.0001). The invA gene (Salmonella) was detected in 26/540 (4.8%) samples, in all ponds and growing seasons, and 14 serotypes detected. Six STEC genes were detected in samples: hly (83.3%), fliC (51.8%), eaeA (17.4%), rfbE (17.4%), stx-I (32.6%), stx-II (9.4%). While all ponds met the PSR requirements, at least one virulence gene from Salmonella (invA-4.8%) or STEC (stx-I-32.6%, stx-II-9.4%) was detected in each pond. Water quality for tested agricultural ponds, below recommended standards, did not guarantee the absence of pathogens. Investigating the relationships among physicochemical attributes, environmental factors, indicator microorganisms, and pathogen presence allows researchers to have a greater understanding of contamination risks from agricultural surface waters in the field.

Subtle effects of environmental stress observed in the early life stages of the Common frog, Rana temporaria

Worldwide amphibian populations are declining due to habitat loss, disease and pollution. Vulnerability to environmental contaminants such as pesticides will be dependent on the species, the sensitivity of the ontogenic life stage and hence the timing of exposure and the exposure pathway. Herein we investigated the biochemical tissue ‘fingerprint’ in spawn and early-stage tadpoles of the Common frog, Rana temporaria, using attenuated total reflection-Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy with the objective of observing differences in the biochemical constituents of the respective amphibian tissues due to varying water quality in urban and agricultural ponds. Our results demonstrate that levels of stress (marked by biochemical constituents such as glycogen that are involved in compensatory metabolic mechanisms) can be observed in tadpoles present in the pond most impacted by pollution (nutrients and pesticides), but large annual variability masked any inter-site differences in the frog spawn. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy is capable of detecting differences in tadpoles that are present in selected ponds with different levels of environmental perturbation and thus serves as a rapid and cost effective tool in assessing stress-related effects of pollution in a vulnerable class of organism.

Effects on the Underlying Water Column by Extensive Floating Treatment Wetlands.

Floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) are an emerging engineering option with promise for simultaneous water quality improvement and habitat creation. Relatively little research has been published regarding their construction or effects on the underlying water column. In this field-scale experiment, four different extensive FTW designs were constructed using minimal materials, including drainpipe, burlap, mulch, utility netting, and reused polyethylene bottles. The FTWs were then planted with spp. (cattail) and L. (common rush). Over 28 mo, the water column beneath FTWs in two test ponds was compared to that in an open water control pond. The ponds (190 ± 10 m) were fed with well water enriched with nitrate to emulate agricultural ponds. Although observed differences were relatively small, statistically significant differences were noted. With respect to the control, waters underneath FTWs had lower dissolved oxygen, sulfate, nitrate, and pH, dampened diurnal temperature fluctuations, and greater alkalinity. The FTWs created habitat and were colonized by species of insects, birds, amphibians, snails, and spiders. Results indicated that spp. is suitable for FTW creation. However, a more supportive planting matrix is suggested to encourage faster plant growth and protect against wind and wave action damage. Although plant growth was limited, results suggest that FTWs may be applied to encourage less aerobic and more organic rich and thermally insulated conditions for water quality improvement in agricultural ponds and other aquatic systems while also creating valuable habitat.

Anuran larvae diet from agroecosystem’s ponds: environmental quality and implications for their populations

&lt;p&gt;Agriculture is considered an important factor for the decline of amphibians recorded in the last decades. Intensive agriculture requires the application of great amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, consequently many aquatic habitats have been altered. The over-enrichment of waters with nutrients from agriculture causes growth of algae and cyanobacteria and the shift of the community composition toward the dominance of tolerant taxa. The aim of this study was to analyze the diet of tadpoles and the size of larvae and metamorphs of the native species &lt;em&gt;Rhinella arenarum &lt;/em&gt;in agroecosystems of central Argentina. Four sampling sites with different degree of human disturbance were selected, three temporary ponds from agroecosystems (A1, A2, A3), and a pond in a semi-modified landscape, not affected by agriculture or cattle. The sites were visited once a week from October 2013 to January 2014. Tadpoles and metamorphs were captured, anesthetize and preserved. Morphometric parameters were measured on tadpoles and metamorphs and for 20 tadpoles the complete intestine was removed and their contents analyzed. Phosphate values were higher in agroecosystem ponds. Body size and mass of tadpoles and metamorphs were different between sites, being smaller in agricultural ponds. Diet analysis revealed that all larvae mainly consumed microalgae. Larval diets allowed differentiating the sites, larvae from A1 and A3 sites showed a diet with a similar composition and structure (with a predominance of &lt;em&gt;Nitzschia palea&lt;/em&gt;), meanwhile larvae from A2 and SM showed different diets. In SM, the larvae mainly consumed &lt;em&gt;Trachelomonas &lt;/em&gt;sp. Analysis of structural variables revealed a higher algal abundance in the diet of larvae from A3, a lower richness in SM and that there were no differences between sites in diversity and evenness of diets. Our hypothesis was support in part, given that resistant algae taxa were found in agroecosystem ponds and tadpoles and metamorphs were smaller, but larval diets showed higher abundance and richness. The analysis of the diet of aquatic stages of &lt;em&gt;R. arenarum&lt;/em&gt; allowed us to know the trophic availability and environmental quality of temporary ponds from agroecosystems. &lt;/p&gt;

Detritivore diversity promotes a relative contribution rate of detritus to the diet of predators in ponds

AbstractTheory suggests that bottom‐up effects of resource diversity to upper trophic levels increases ecosystem functioning. In particular, energy flux from the detritus to other organisms in an ecosystem affects food web dynamics. To our knowledge, no empirical studies have examined how detritivore diversity alters the energy flux to upper trophic levels in a food web. Here we test the hypothesis that the greater diversity of litter‐consuming detritivores promotes energy flow between the resource and top predators in agricultural ponds using stable isotope analysis. We found that the diversity and abundance of detritivores had a significant positive effect on the relative contribution rate of detritus to the diet of predators, even after confounding effects were controlled for. In addition, the number of functional feeding groups of detritivores was significantly correlated with the contribution of detritus to the diet of predators, and particularly, high functional diversity of detritivores increased the energy flow from the detritus to the detritivores compared to the flow from the detritivores to the predators. It is likely that high functional diversity within species induces complementarity effects on decomposition and this may be a potential mechanism leading to diversity effects on the energy flow in detritus‐based food web. Our study is the first to demonstrate bottom‐up effects of detritivore diversity on energy flow in food webs.

Biospectroscopy reveals the effect of varying water quality on tadpole tissues of the common frog (Rana temporaria)

Amphibians are undergoing large population declines in many regions around the world. As environmental pollution from both agricultural and urban sources has been implicated in such declines, there is a need for a biomonitoring approach to study potential impacts on this vulnerable class of organism. This study assessed the use of infrared (IR) spectroscopy as a tool to detect changes in several tissues (liver, muscle, kidney, heart and skin) of late-stage common frog (Rana temporaria) tadpoles collected from ponds with differing water quality. Small differences in spectral signatures were revealed between a rural agricultural pond and an urban pond receiving wastewater and landfill run-off; these were limited to the liver and heart, although large differences in body size were apparent, surprisingly with tadpoles from the urban site larger than those from the rural site. Large differences in liver spectra were found between tadpoles from the pesticide and nutrient impacted pond compared to the rural agricultural pond, particularly in regions associated with lipids. Liver mass and hepatosomatic indices were found to be significantly increased in tadpoles from the site impacted by pesticides and trace organic chemicals, suggestive of exposure to environmental contamination. Significant alterations were also found in muscle tissue between tadpoles from these two ponds in regions associated with glycogen, potentially indicative of a stress response. This study highlights the use of IR spectroscopy, a low-cost, rapid and reagent-free technique in the biomonitoring of a class of organisms susceptible to environmental degradation.

When is the best time to sample aquatic macroinvertebrates in ponds for biodiversity assessment?

Ponds are sites of high biodiversity and conservation value, yet there is little or no statutory monitoring of them across most of Europe. There are clear and standardised protocols for sampling aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in ponds, but the most suitable time(s) to undertake the survey(s) remains poorly specified. This paper examined the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities from 95 ponds within different land use types over three seasons (spring, summer and autumn) to determine the most appropriate time to undertake sampling to characterise biodiversity. The combined samples from all three seasons provided the most comprehensive record of the aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa recorded within ponds (alpha and gamma diversity). Samples collected during the autumn survey yielded significantly greater macroinvertebrate richness (76 % of the total diversity) than either spring or summer surveys. Macroinvertebrate diversity was greatest during autumn in meadow and agricultural ponds, but taxon richness among forest and urban ponds did not differ significantly temporally. The autumn survey provided the highest measures of richness for Coleoptera, Hemiptera and Odonata. However, richness of the aquatic insect order Trichoptera was highest in spring and lowest in autumn. The results illustrate that multiple surveys, covering more than one season, provide the most comprehensive representation of macroinvertebrate biodiversity. When sampling can only be undertaken on one occasion, the most appropriate time to undertake surveys to characterise the macroinvertebrate community biodiversity is during autumn, although this may need to be modified if other floral and faunal groups need to be incorporated into the sampling programme.

Peripheral land conversion for land and housing development projects and its impacts upon the affected people: a study in Greater Dhaka

This article explores the process of the land conversion for land and housing development projects and its impact upon the affected people of Greater Dhaka. A primary survey was conducted on plot buyers and on the people affected for land conversion. Findings of the study show that most of the projects do not have any kind of plan approval and in many instances they forcefully transformed the high-value agricultural lands, wetlands/lowlands and retention ponds into housing projects through massive land conversion resulting in wide range of socio-economic and habitat quality change. The paper emphasises the need for the formulation of a comprehensive compensation package for the affected rural people of Greater Dhaka.

Effects of physical and morphometric factors on nutrient removal properties in agricultural ponds.

Effects of physical and morphometric factors on nutrient removal properties were studied in small agricultural ponds with different depths, volumes, and residence times in western Japan. Average residence time was estimated to be >15 days, and it tended to decrease from summer to winter because of the increase in water withdrawal for agricultural activity. Water temperature was clearly different between the surface and bottom layers; this indicates that thermal stratification occurred in summer. Chlorophyll-a was significantly high (>20 μg/L) in the surface layer (<0.5 m) and influenced by the thermal stratification. Removal ratios of dissolved total nitrogen (DTN) and dissolved total phosphorus in the ponds were estimated to be 53-98% and 39-98% in August and 10-92% and 36-57% in December, respectively. Residence time of the ponds was longer in August than in December, and DTN removal, in particular, was more significant in ponds with longer residence time. Our results suggest residence time is an important factor for nitrogen removal in small agricultural ponds as well as large lakes.

Visibility from roads predict the distribution of invasive fishes in agricultural ponds.

Propagule pressure and habitat characteristics are important factors used to predict the distribution of invasive alien species. For species exhibiting strong propagule pressure because of human-mediated introduction of species, indicators of introduction potential must represent the behavioral characteristics of humans. This study examined 64 agricultural ponds to assess the visibility of ponds from surrounding roads and its value as a surrogate of propagule pressure to explain the presence and absence of two invasive fish species. A three-dimensional viewshed analysis using a geographic information system quantified the visual exposure of respective ponds to humans. Binary classification trees were developed as a function of their visibility from roads, as well as five environmental factors: river density, connectivity with upstream dam reservoirs, pond area, chlorophyll a concentration, and pond drainage. Traditional indicators of human-mediated introduction (road density and proportion of urban land-use area) were alternatively included for comparison instead of visual exposure. The presence of Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) was predicted by the ponds' higher visibility from roads and pond connection with upstream dam reservoirs. Results suggest that fish stocking into ponds and their dispersal from upstream sources facilitated species establishment. Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) distribution was constrained by chlorophyll a concentration, suggesting their lower adaptability to various environments than that of Bluegill. Based on misclassifications from classification trees for Bluegill, pond visual exposure to roads showed greater predictive capability than traditional indicators of human-mediated introduction. Pond visibility is an effective predictor of invasive species distribution. Its wider use might improve management and mitigate further invasion. The visual exposure of recipient ecosystems to humans is important for many invasive species that spread with frequent instances of human-mediated introduction.

Clutch Size in the Great Basin Spadefoot (Spea intermontana), South Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

Breeding wetlands and upland terrestrial habitat used by the Great Basin Spadefoot (Spea intermontana) are under intense pressure from the expansion of agriculture, urban development, and loss of grasslands throughout the species range (AmphibiaWeb 2012). At the northern edge of the Spea intermontana geographic range, the British Columbia population of the Great Basin Spadefoot is designated as a threatened Species At Risk (BC Southern Interior Reptile and Amphibian Recovery Team 2007; Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada [COSEWIC] 2007). In the South Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, approximately 90% of wetlands have been lost (Lea 2008). In the lowland Valley (,450 m elevation), metamorphic success of Spea intermontana has been observed in natural ephemeral wetlands, small agricultural ponds, and diverse anthropogenic sites (Ashpole and others 2012). Spadefoot developmental adaptation (either a delay or an increased rate of metamorphosis) in response to the larval habitat has been attributed to resource availability and consequently fitness (see overview by Morey and Reznick 2004). Morey and Reznick (2004) report wild populations of Spea intermontana development ranging from 36 to 60 d. In a comparative resource study, Spea intermontana metamorphic development was slowest (41 d) in individuals with the lowest food availability (Morey and Reznick 2004). Spea intermontana clutches are described in standard field guides as containing few eggs (5 to 40 eggs/clutch) in a randomly shaped grape-sized cluster, where 1 egg can easily be detached from the group (Corkran and Thoms 1996; Cannings and others 1999; Jones and others 2005; Matsuda and others 2007). Here we describe large clutch sizes of Spea intermontana not previously documented in the scientific literature or field guides. Egg clutches were oviposited in 3 human-made ‘ephemeral’ breeding sites, including a swimming pool (Site A), a constructed agricultural retention pond (Site B), and a cement irrigation ditch (Site C). Additionally, road kill samples of Spea intermontana provide a broader range of possible fecundity rates, and skeletocronology suggests that reproductive maturity occurs at 1 y of age.