An approach to evaluating the acute toxicity of nitrofurazone on community functioning using protozoan periphytons

The acute toxicity of nitmfurazone on community functioning was studied using an acute toxicity test. Consequently, 14-day protozoan periphyton assemblages were used as test organism communities, under a range of nitrofurazone concentrations including 0 (control), 0.5, 3, 6, and 12 mg ml(-1) within 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 h time duration. Fuzzy coding system of functional traits classified the test protozoan periphyton community into six major traits and 15 categories. Briefly, community-weighted means (CWM) were used to identify the community functioning of test protozoan assemblage. Inferences demonstrate a drastic/significant variation in the functional patterns of the test organisms at a high concentration (12 mg ml(-1)) after an exposure time of 12 h, but the functional diversity indices leveled off at the exposure time of 10 h and then dropped sharply. These results suggested that nitrofurazone may significantly influence the community functioning in marine ecosystems.

Automated summary

The study showed that nitrofurazone can significantly influence the community functioning in marine ecosystems, with a drastic change in functional patterns observed at a high concentration after 12 hours of exposure, while the functional diversity indices leveled off at 10 hours and then dropped sharply.