Archives of Biological Sciences 2015 Volume 67, Issue 3, Pages: 1009-1023
https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS141210064Z
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Fluctuating asymmetry in Pelophylax ridibundus (Amphibia: Ranidae) as a response to anthropogenic pollution in south Bulgaria
Zhelev Zhivko M. (University of Plovdiv “Paisii Hilendarski”, Faculty of Biology, Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
Popgeorgiev Georgi S. (Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB/Birdlife Bulgaria), Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
Arnaudov Atanas D. (University of Plovdiv “Paisii Hilendarski”, Faculty of Biology, Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
Georgieva Katerina N. (Medical University Plovdiv, Department of Physiology, Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
Mehterov Nikolay H. (Medical University Plovdiv, Department of Medical Biology, Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
The aim of this study was to investigate the integral indicator for
developmental stability, the fluctuating asymmetry (FA), in the marsh frog
Pelophylax ridibundus populations that inhabit biotopes of different types
(running rivers and still, dam lakes), when exposed to different types of
anthropogenic pollution (domestic sewage pollution and heavy metal pollution)
in south Bulgaria. A total of 920 P. ridibundus individuals were used for FA
analyses over three years (2009-2011). Fluctuating asymmetry was defined by
10 morphological traits, using the index frequency of asymmetric
manifestation of an individual (FAMI). In closed water basins, regardless of
the nature of toxicants, the FA values in P. ridibundus populations were
statistically lower than those in river populations. The FA values were
constantly the highest under conditions of sustained anthropogenic pollution,
with high concentrations of toxicants in rivers with domestic sewage
pollution and heavy-metal pollution. The results provide better opportunities
to use FA in P. ridibundus populations for bioindication and biomonitoring,
and for parallel and independent analyses of the physicochemical assessment
of the environmental condition.
Keywords: developmental stability, Pelophylax ridibundus, fluctuating asymmetry, dam lakes, domestic sewage pollution