Aquatic mesocosms exposed to a fungicide in different climate zones: macroinvertebrate response
C. Shinn1*, R. Ribeiro 1, M. Moreira-Santos 1, E. Espindola 2, R. Muller 3
1 IMAR-Instituto do Mar, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Apartado 3046,
3001-401, Coimbra, Portugal; 2 NEEANúcleo de Estudos em Ecossistemas Aquáticos,
CRHEA, USP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil; 3 LOEWE Biodiversity and Climate
Research Centre (BiKF), Frankfurt, Germany
*Presenting author contact: candida.shinn@gmail.com
Current Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) of pesticides does not take into account environmental and biological differences between climate zones (CZ), thus neglecting parameters that strongly influence the functioning of natural ecosystems and the behaviour of the contaminants per se. It is often assumed that tropical species have equal sensitivities to temperate species, which may not be the case. Furthermore, toxicity testing in CZ other than cold temperate has largely depended on standardized tests using cold temperate species and conditions, which may lead to the underestimation of risks to species from other
CZ.
In order to study the impact of toxicants on aquatic systems in varying climate conditions, we conducted long-term aquatic mesocosm experiments in three different CZ with identical methodological design: cold temperate (Frankfurt, Germany), warm temperate (Coimbra,
Portugal), and subtropical (São Carlos, Brazil). In each CZ three control mesocosms and three treated mesocosms (active ingredient: fungicide pyrimethanil applied at 1 mg/L) were monitored for 12 months post-application. In this presentation (one of two), we present the response of the macroinvertebrate community to the fungicide. Apart from analysing the biological shifts, we focus on the importance of long-term studies in evaluating the recovery capacity of model aquatic ecosystems under stress.
Preferred presentation format: oral