Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1978. / Bibliography: leaves 193-205. / Microfiche. / xv, 205 leaves ill. 28 cm

Amphibian populations are in mass decline on a global scale. Various explanations have been considered, including harmful effects from exposure to toxicants. Using Xenopus laevis adults and tadpoles, potential sublethal effects of atrazine, a herbicide, were investigated in this thesis. I also investigated the toxicity of an organic herbicide compared this with the toxicity of a synthetic herbicide, using LC50 values. Whether X. laevis adult frogs could communicate chemically was tested experimentally. The results suggest that adult female X. laevis communicate chemically, but there was no evidence that male individuals did so. For testing tadpoles I used a kin-preference assay. An encouraging trend for kin preference was evident, for both an outbred and an inbred line. Tadpoles changed their behaviour after exposure to l0μg/L of atrazine for 24 hr. Kin preferences in the control tests were reversed after exposure. A hypothesis of altruistic kin avoidance was suggested by these results. However, when individuals were isolated and then exposed, these individuals had more pronounced preference for kin compared to controls. X. laevis tadpoles exposed to Organic Interceptor (organic herbicide) had a LC50 that was more than 7000 times lower than the 20% recommended dose, whereas Roundup Renews' (a synthetic herbicide) LC50 was around 8 times lower than the 1% recommended dose. This research adds to evidence that toxicants have a negative impact on amphibian populations, and suggests that more research needs to be conducted to identify other sublethal effects of toxicants and to clarify the implications these effects might have for the amphibian populations in nature.

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-87). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Environmental Biology))--Mahidol University, 1983.

Thèse (M.Sc.)--Université Laval, 2007. / Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 9 mai 2008). Bibliogr.

Thesis--University of Wisconsin. / Bibliography: leaves 73-77.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2008. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Sept. 23, 2009). Thesis advisor: J. Scott McElroy. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1994. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-204). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.) in Forestry--University of Maine, 2003. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-118).