Lethal and Sublethal Effects of Embryonic and Larval Exposure of Hyla versicolor to Stormwater Pond Sediments Adrianne B. Brand Æ Joel W. Snodgrass Æ Matthew T. Gallagher Æ Ryan E. Casey Æ Robin Van Meter Received: 6 January 2009 / Accepted: 27 July 2009 / Published online: 14 August 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract Stormwater ponds are common features of modern stormwater management practices. Stormwater ponds often retain standing water for extended periods of time, develop vegetative characteristics similar to natural wetlands, and attract wildlife. However, because storm- water ponds are designed to capture pollutants, wildlife that utilize ponds might be exposed to pollutants and suffer toxicological effects. To investigate the toxicity of storm- water pond sediments to Hyla versicolor, an anuran com- monly found using retention ponds for breeding, we exposed embryos and larvae to sediments in laboratory microcosms. Exposure to pond sediments reduced survival of embryos by *50% but did not affect larval survival. Larvae exposed to stormwater pond sediment developed significantly faster (  x ¼ 39 days compared to 42 days; p = 0.005) and were significantly larger at metamorphosis (  x ¼ 0:49 g compared to 0.36 g; p \ 0.001) than controls that were exposed to clean sand. Substantial amounts (712– 2215 mg/l) of chloride leached from pond sediments into the water column of treatment microcosms; subsequently, survival of embryos was negatively correlated (r 2 = 0.50; p \ 0.001) with water conductivity during development. Our results, along with the limited number of other toxi- cological studies of stormwater ponds, suggest that road salt contributes to the degradation of stormwater pond habitat quality for amphibian reproduction and that future research should focus on understanding interactions among road salts and other pollutants and stressors characteristic of urban environments. As urban and suburban areas continue to expand, resource managers must modify the landscape to decrease the impact of human presence on our environment. Proper stormwater and runoff management from impervious sur- faces is paramount, as mismanagement can lead to degra- dation and pollution of downstream water bodies as well as local flooding and property damage (US EPA 1993). One of the major components of stormwater management schemes are stormwater ponds, which are built to catch and store runoff and the wide range of pollutants that accu- mulate on impervious surfaces (e.g., roads, parking lots, rooftops) such as metals, road salts, and polycyclic aro- matic hydrocarbons (PAHs; Davis et al. 2001; Marsalek 2003; Pitt et al. 1995; Van Metre and Mahler 2003). Impervious surfaces decrease infiltration during rain or snow events, increasing surface runoff to receiving waters (Dunne and Leopold 1978; Hopkinson and Day 1980). Stormwater ponds are designed to detain and store runoff in order to remove pollutants and decrease the volume of water entering nearby streams, rivers, and wetlands after a storm event (Novotny 1995; US EPA 1993). These ponds are common features in the modern urban landscape and are often colonized by plants and other wildlife in the area (Bishop et al. 2000a, 2000b; Scher and Thiery 2005). A. B. Brand  J. W. Snodgrass (&)  M. T. Gallagher Department of Biological Sciences, Towson University, 8000 York Road, Towson, MD 21252, USA e-mail: jsnodgrass@towson.edu R. E. Casey Department of Chemistry, Towson University, 8000 York Road, Towson, MD, 21252 R. Van Meter Marine, Estuarine, and Environment Science Graduate Program, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Center for Urban Environmental Research & Education, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA 123 Arch Environ Contam Toxicol (2010) 58:325–331 DOI 10.1007/s00244-009-9373-0