SALT run-off from de-iced roads can harm frog tadpoles when spring arrives.
Domenico Sanzo and Stephen Hecnar of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Canada, found salt concentrations facing wild amphibians in 59 local wetlands range from 0.39 to 1030 milligrams per litre. When they reared wood frog tadpoles in aquaria containing similar salt levels, those in water with a salinity of 1030 mg/l were much more likely to die during the 90-day experiment than tadpoles at lower salinities (Environmental Pollution, DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2005.07.013).
Wetlands farther from roads had both lower salinity and more species of amphibians.
