Academic Level at Time of Creation
Junior
Major
Biology; Pre-Med
Minor
Chemistry
Date of Creation
Summer 8-10-2021
Abstract
Wetlands are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world but
have been declining in condition across the United States for decades.
Methods such as the National Wetland Condition Assessment, which
focuses on foliage health, nutrient enrichment, chemical contamination,
and surrounding land usage, are used to catalog the condition of those
wetlands that remain. It is unknown if and how these current measures
of condition related to the physiological responses of the organisms that
inhabit these systems. Amphibians can serve as a model organism for
assessing the linkage between organismal health and wetland condition
due to their high species diversity in wetlands and their use of wetlands
for some or all of their life cycles. The objective of this study is to assess
the utility of using rapid measures of amphibian stress physiology as
complementary metrics in wetland condition assessments. The
measurement of corticosterone levels in an organism represents a noninvasive
means of collecting stress physiology data, with two well established
methods including the Santymire dermal swab method and
Gabor’s waterborne measurement method. To identify which method
may be the most appropriate in the quantification of the stress response
in amphibians, we will collect corticosterone samples from 15 individual
tree-frogs in 5 to 10 different wetlands using both the dermal swab and
waterborne measurement methods and will compare the results to
traditional rapid assessment method scores.
Recommended Citation
Sisson, Andrew W.; Darracq, Andrea; and Moon, J.B., "A Comparison of The Dermal Swab and Waterborne Methods for Measuring Corticosterone Levels in Amphibians for Use in Wetland Condition Assessments" (2021). Student Scholarship & Creative Works. 14.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/sscw/14