Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Volume 157, Issue 8-9, Pages 2328-2334Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2009.03.027
Keywords
Insecticide; Community responses; Sub-lethal effects; Leaf decomposition; In situ feeding assay
Categories
Funding
- Environment Canada's Pesticide Science Fund
- Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Structural and functional responses of a benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage to pulses of the insecticide imidacloprid were assessed in outdoor stream mesocosms. Imidacloprid pulses reduced invertebrate abundance and community diversity in imidacloprid-dosed streams compared to control streams. These results correlated well with effects of imidacloprid on leaf litter decomposition and feeding rates of Pteronarcys comstocki, a stonefly, in artificial streams. Reductions in oxygen consumption of stoneflies exposed to imidacloprid were also observed in laboratory experiments. Our findings suggest that leaf litter degradation and single species responses can be sensitive ecotoxicological endpoints that can be used as early warning indicators and biomonitoring tools for pesticide contamination. The data generated illustrates the value of mesocosm experiments in environmental assessment and how the consideration of functional and structural endpoints of natural communities together with in situ single species bioassays can improve the evaluation and prediction of pesticide effects on stream ecosystems. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available