The effects o f an thropogenic stressors on the food q u a lity in
estuarine systems
F ilim o n o va V a le n tin a '23, M arleen De T ro c h 2, Fernando G on ça lve s3 and A n a M.M. G o n ç a lv e s '3
1 IMAR-CMA, D e p a rtm e n t o f Life Sciences, U n iv e rs ity o f C o im b ra , C o im b ra , P ortugal
E-mail: v a le n tin a .m .filim o n o v a @ q m a il.c o m : v a le n tin a .filim in o v a @ u q e n t.b e
2 M arine B io lo g y S ection, B io lo g y D e p a rtm e n t, G h e n t U n ive rsity, K rijg s la a n 2 8 1 -S8,
B-9000 Gent, B elgium
3 D e p a rtm e n t o f B io lo g y & CESAM, U n iv e rs ity o f A v e iro , A v e iro , P ortugal
D u rin g th e last decades disch a rg e o f c o n ta m in a n ts is one o f th e h ig h co n ce rn s to th e m arine
s c ie n tific c o m m u n ity o f th e th re a t and adverse e ffe c ts it m ay cause in a q u a tic eco syste m s (M c K n ig h t
e t al., 20 1 2 ). L ittle is kn o w n a b o u t how n a tu ra l eco syste m s re sp o n d to c h ro n ic e x p o s u re to
p o llu ta n ts , m a n y o f w h ich , e s p e c ia lly m etals, are n o n -d e g ra d a b le and th e re fo re a ccu m u la te in
nature. A n th ro p o g e n ic pre ssu re s o fte n decrease th e h e a lth and s ta b ility o f ecosystem s, a lth o u g h
th e precise e ffe c ts o f th e se s tre sso rs on th e b io c h e m ic a l c o m p o n e n ts o f liv in g o rg a n is m s and th e ir
in te ra c tio n s rem ain la rg e ly u n k n o w n (G onçalves e t al., 2 0 1 2 a; H o llid a y e t al., 2 0 0 9 ). D espite the
e xte n sive lite ra tu re on a n th ro p o g e n ic pressures, a m ore fu n c tio n a l a p p ro a ch to tra ce changes in
fo o d w ebs due to th e m o d ifie d b io c h e m ic a l c o m p o s itio n o f in te ra c tin g species is la ckin g so far.
N u trie n ts , m a in ly lip id s and p ro te in s , are in v o lv e d in m a n y v ita l fu n c tio n s o f a q u a tic in d iv id u a ls
(A rts e t al., 2 0 0 1 ; H ib b e in e t al., 2 0 0 6 ; S anG iovanni and Chew 2 0 0 5 ; T e ilu m e t al., 2 0 1 1 ). Since
som e o f th e m can o n ly be o b ta in e d fro m fo o d and th e re fo re re fe rre d to as ‘e sse n tia l n u trie n ts ’ , th e y
prove d to be u se fu l tro p h ic m a rke rs (De T ro c h e t al., 201 2, K elly and S c h e ib lin g , 2 0 1 2 ) in o rd e r to
d e te c t changes in th e e ffic ie n c e o f e n e rg y tra n s fe r betw een tro p h ic levels. T ro p h ic b io m a rk e rs as
fa tty acid (FA) p ro file s , p ro te in q u a n tific a tio n and e n z y m a tic a c tiv ity w ill be used to te s t fo r p o te n tia l
e ffe cts o f p o llu ta n ts as s tre sso rs on th e e n e rg y flo w betw een tw o tro p h ic levels i.e. p rim a ry
p ro d u ce rs and p rim a ry co n s u m e rs . In te g ra tin g m u ltip le s p e c ific b io m a rk e rs to assess b io ch e m ica l
responses o f e stu a rin e species p ro vid e s a p o w e rfu l to o l to q u a n tify th e h e a lth s ta tu s o f an
in d iv id u a l in response to a n th ro p o g e n ic s tre sso rs (M asclaux e t al., 201 2).
T h is Mares PhD s tu d y (2 0 1 4 -2 0 1 6 ) a im s to a ddress th e in flu e n c e o f h u m a n -in d u c e d e n v iro n m e n ta l
changes on fu n c tio n a l (b io c h e m ic a l, in re la tio n to fo o d w eb in te ra c tio n s ) c o m p o s itio n o f tw o m ain
e stu a rin e p la n k to n ic g ro u p s in a s o u th e rn European e s tu a ry (e.g. M o n d e g o Estuary, P o rtu g a l) by
m eans o f (tro p h ic ) b io m a rk e rs .
We w ill fo c u s on p h y to p la n k to n and Z o o p la n k to n as th e y are w id e ly used in th e d e te rm in a tio n o f
e n v iro n m e n ta l im p a cts due to th e ir key p o s itio n in th e g ra z in g fo o d chain (G onçalves e t al., 2 0 1 2 a,
b, c). T w o m ain re p re s e n ta tiv e s o f b o th tr o p h ic levels (ke y species as e.g. th e d ia to m T h a la s s io s ira
w e is s flo g ii and th e co p e p o d A c a rtia to n sa ) w ill be used to c o n s titu te a s im p le tro p h ic fo o d chain
u n d e r lab c o n d itio n s .
C o p p er and h e rb icid e P rim extra® Gold TZ w ill be used as c o n ta m in a n ts . The asse ssm e n t w ill in clude
in d iv id u a l e x p o s u re o f to x ic a n ts and th e ir b ifa c to ria l c o m b in a tio n s as w ell. T h is w ill a llo w to
c o n d u c t c o n tro lle d lab e x p e rim e n ts in o rd e r to d e te rm in e and q u a n tify th e in d iv id u a l and c o m b in e d
e ffe cts o f a n th ro p o g e n ic stre sso rs.
A c c o rd in g to e x p e rim e n ta l d a ta a b o u t to x ic ity a c q u ire d in th is p ro je c t, a lo n g w ith o th e r d a ta fro m
lite ra tu re , an e c o to x ic o lo g ic a l m o d e l based on b io c h e m ic a l c o m p o s itio n o f e s tu a rin e species w ill be
b u ilt in c o lla b o ra tio n w ith Prof. Dr. F re d e rik De Laender (U n iv e rs ity o f N am ur, B elgium ). T h is m o d el
aim s to p re d ic t p o te n tia l changes in a q u a tic fo o d w eb, and th u s in fo o d q u a lity , caused by
a n th ro p o g e n ic a c tiv itie s , and to d e te rm in e th e level and typ e o f p o llu tio n in e s tu a rin e system s
su sce p tib le o f ca using changes in sp e cie s’ b io c h e m ic a l c o m p o s itio n .
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