Effects of aqueous extracts of wildfire ashes on tadpoles of Pelophylax perezi: Influence of plant coverage
Abstract
Wildfires have been pointed out as an important source of diffuse contamination to aquatic ecosystems, namely through the input of toxic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and metals. However, amphibians' responses to this disturbance have been largely ignored. Hence, this study intended to assess how ashes from Pinus sp. and Eucalyptus sp. plantation forests affect tadpoles of Pelophylax perezi. Tadpoles were exposed 14 days to serial concentrations (26.9 %-100 %) of aqueous extracts of ashes (AEA, with 10 g L-1 of ashes) containing Eucalypt (ELS) and Pine (PLS) ashes. The following endpoints were measured: mortality, malformations, developmental stage, body length and weight. Effects at sub-individual level were also monitored for oxidative stress, neurotoxicity, and energetic metabolism. Chemical characterization of the AEA of ELS showed higher concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Pb and V, while PLS showed higher concentrations of Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn. Concerning the lethal effects of AEAs on tadpoles, both extracts were able to induce mortality at high concentrations (76.9 and/or 100 % of AEA), although a high variability in the response was found. A significant mortality in tadpoles exposed to ELS was observed at the concentration of 76.9 %. For organisms exposed to PLS, though a mortality above 20 % was registered at the two highest tested concentrations, it was not significantly different from the control. No significant sub-lethal effects were observed in the ELS treatments. Contrasting, exposure to PLS induced a decrease in body length, weight, glutathione-S-transferase activity and an increase in oxygen consumption. Overall, the distinct effects of ELS and PLS suggest an influence of vegetation cover in ash toxicity. In conclusion, exposure to both ash extracts negatively affected sublethal responses of tadpoles of P. perezi. Future research is needed to assess how these effects at individual level may translate into effects at population level.
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The chemical composition of the ash evaluated here shares key elements with ash derived from burned Pinus and Eucalyptus biomass, including elevated metal concentrations and detectable levels of PAHs.
“The chemical composition of the ash evaluated here shares key elements with ash derived from burned Pinus and Eucalyptus biomass [66][67][68], including elevated metal concentrations and detectable levels of PAHs.”
From Wildfire Ash Alters Freshwater Crustacean Behavior: Disentangling the Contributions of Suspended Macroparticles and Ash‐Induced Alkalinization (2026) · cites this paper as [67]
Concentrations of Pb, Cu, Hg, Ni, Cr, and Cd in the wildfire ash were below 100 mg kg-1, similar to previous studies.
“Lower concentrations (<100 mg kg -1 ) were obtained for the remaining metals analysed (i.e., Pb, Cu, Hg, Ni, Cr, and Cd) similar to the concentrations reported in previous studies (e.g., Brito et al., 2017;Campos et al., 2016;Santos et al., 2023; Table 1).”
From Chemical characteristics of wildfire ash across the globe and their environmental and socio-economic implications (2023) · cites this paper as Santos et al., 2023
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Sánchez-García, C., Santín, C., Neris, J., Sigmund, G., Otero, X. L., Manley, J., González-Rodríguez, G., Belcher, C. M., Cerdà, A., Marcotte, A. L., et al. (2023) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2023.108065 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
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Pereira‐Silva, P. B., Pacheco, D. R., Kirsch, G., Araujo, R. M. G., Oscar, B. V. C., Matias, W. G., Santos, S., & Figueiredo, B. R. S. (2026) · Environmental Toxicology · doi:10.1002/tox.70178
- Authors
- Santos, D., Abrantes, N., Campos, I., Domingues, I., & Lopes, I.
- Affiliations
- University of Aveiro (PT)
- Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (PT)
- Corresponding author
- Lopes, Isabel
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-01
- Volume
- 854
- Pages
- 158746
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4295947671
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 4
- FWCI
- 1.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
- Ministério da Educação e Ciência (PODI-01-0145-FEDER-030718, PTDC/CTA-AMB/28936/2017)
- Centro de Estudos Ambientais e Marinhos, Universidade de Aveiro (LA/P/0094/2020)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Amphibian and Reptile Biology
- Keywords
- wildfire ash, Pelophylax perezi, tadpoles, amphibian toxicity, heavy metals, oxidative stress, glutathione S-transferase, oxygen consumption, sublethal effects, vegetation cover, aquatic ecosystem contamination
- MeSH terms
- Wildfires, Animals, Larva, Ranidae, Water, Ecosystem, Forests
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