Investigating the toxicity of road salt to stream salamanders in urban watersheds: the role of stormwater management

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Document Details

Title

Investigating the toxicity of road salt to stream salamanders in urban watersheds: the role of stormwater management

Identifier

TF2013Izzo

Subjects

["Pollution"]

Type

["Text"]

Genre

["Theses"]

Format

["pdf"]

Rights

Access to this document has been permanently and indefinitely restricted by the author until or unless the author submits a written request to Special Collections & Archives to change the access restrictions and/or make it freely available. Only Albert S. Cook Library staff members may access this file for administrative purposes unless written permission from the author is presented to staff members of the Towson University Special Collections & Archives department. Copyright protected, all rights reserved.

General Notes

Thesis research directed by Department of Biological Sciences.

Extent

vii, 44 pages

Language

["English"]

Repository

["Towson University. Albert S. Cook Library. Special Collections and University Archives"]

Collection Name

["Towson University Graduate Theses and Dissertations"]

Author

Izzo, Grant D.

Degree Date

2014

Department or Program

["Towson University. Department of Biological Sciences"]

Abstract

The application of road salt as a deicing agent is common, but impacts of salts on stream salamanders have not been investigated. Additionally, modern stormwater management practices should influence the delivery of salt ions to streams. I used data loggers in streams draining watersheds with and without stormwater management ponds and bioassays to investigate exposure of and road salt toxicity among two widespread salamanders in the eastern United States, Northern Dusky Salamanders (Desmognathus fuscus) and Northern Two-Lined Salamanders (Eurycea bislineata). In streams below stormwater ponds, base levels of conductivity were elevated throughout the year. Stream salamanders were relatively tolerant of salt, not exhibiting any lethal effects until chloride levels exceeded 5000 mg/L for both species, and concentrations in no streams exceeded these levels. My results suggest road salts are not having acute lethal effects on salamanders in the streams I studied. However, chronic and indirect effects require further study.

Thesis Committee Members

["Ownby, David R.","Casey, Ryan"]

Date Published

02 November 2014

Author (Controlled)

["Izzo, Grant D."]

Thesis Advisor

["Snodgrass, Joel W."]

Degree Note

(M.S.) -- Towson University, 2014.

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