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Ruggiero KLF, da Silva Pinto TJ, Gomes DF, Dias MA, Montagner CC, Rocha O, Moreira RA. Ecological Implications on Aquatic Food Webs Due to Effects of Pesticides on Invertebrate Predators in a Neotropical Region. ARCHIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND TOXICOLOGY 2024; 86:112-124. [PMID: 38265449 DOI: 10.1007/s00244-024-01052-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
Predation presents specific behavioral characteristics for each species, and the interaction between prey and predator influences the structuring of the food web. Concerning insects, predation can be affected in different ways, such as exposure to chemical stressors, e.g., pesticides. Therefore, analyses were carried out of the effects of exposure to insecticide fipronil and the herbicide 2,4-D on predation, parameters of food selectivity, and the swimming behavior of two neotropical predatory aquatic insects of the families Belostomatidae (giant water bugs) and larvae of Libellulidae (dragonfly). These predatory insects were exposed for 24 h to a commercial formulation of the chlorophenoxy herbicide, 2,4-D at nominal concentrations of 200, 300, 700, and 1400 μg L-1, and to a commercial formulation of the phenylpyrazole insecticide, fipronil at nominal concentrations of 10, 70, 140, and 250 µg L-1. In a control treatment, the insects were placed in clean, unspiked water. At the end of the exposure, the maximum swimming speed of the predators was evaluated. Afterward, the predators were placed in clean water in a shared environment for 24 h with several prey species, including the cladoceran Ceriodaphnia silvestrii, larvae of the insect Chironomus sancticaroli, the amphipod Hyalella meinerti, the ostracod Strandesia trispinosa, and the oligochaete Allonais inaequalis for 24 h. After this period, the consumed prey was counted. The results reveal that predators from both families changed prey consumption compared with organisms from the control treatment, marked by a decrease after exposure to fipronil and an increase in consumption caused by 2,4-D. In addition, there were changes in the food preferences of both predators, especially when exposed to the insecticide. Exposure to fipronil decreased the swimming speed of Belostomatidae individuals, possibly due to its neurotoxic effect. Exposure to the insecticide and the herbicide altered prey intake by predators, which could negatively influence the complex prey-predator relationship and the functioning of aquatic ecosystems in contaminated areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaue Leopoldo Ferraz Ruggiero
- NEEA/SHS and PPG-SEA, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, Av. Trabalhador São Carlense, 400, São Carlos, 13560-970, Brazil
| | - Thandy Júnio da Silva Pinto
- NEEA/SHS and PPG-SEA, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, Av. Trabalhador São Carlense, 400, São Carlos, 13560-970, Brazil
- Analytical Chemistry Department, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Diego Ferreira Gomes
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and PPG-ERN, Federal University of São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luis, Km 235, São Carlos, SP, 13565‑905, Brazil
| | - Mariana Amaral Dias
- Analytical Chemistry Department, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Cassiana Carolina Montagner
- Analytical Chemistry Department, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Odete Rocha
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and PPG-ERN, Federal University of São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luis, Km 235, São Carlos, SP, 13565‑905, Brazil
| | - Raquel Aparecida Moreira
- NEEA/SHS and PPG-SEA, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, Av. Trabalhador São Carlense, 400, São Carlos, 13560-970, Brazil.
- Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande - FURG, Avenida Itália, Km 8, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, 96203-900, Brazil.
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Kaufmann PR, Hughes RM, Paulsen SG, Peck DV, Seeliger CW, Kincaid T, Mitchell RM. Physical habitat in conterminous US streams and Rivers, part 2: A quantitative assessment of habitat condition. ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS 2022; 141:109047. [PMID: 35991318 PMCID: PMC9389467 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Rigorous assessments of the ecological condition of water resources and the effect of human activities on those waters require quantitative physical, chemical, and biological data. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's river and stream surveys quantify river and stream bed particle size and stability, instream habitat complexity and cover, riparian vegetation cover and structure, and anthropogenic disturbance activities. Physical habitat is strongly controlled by natural geoclimatic factors that co-vary with human activities. We expressed the anthropogenic alteration of physical habitat as O/E ratios of observed habitat metric values divided by values expected under least-disturbed reference conditions, where site-specific expected values vary given their geoclimatic and geomorphic context. We set criteria for good, fair, and poor condition based on the distribution of O/E values in regional least-disturbed reference sites. Poor conditions existed in 22-24% of the 1.2 million km of streams and rivers in the conterminous U.S. for riparian human disturbance, streambed sediment and riparian vegetation cover, versus 14% for instream habitat complexity. Based on the same four indicators, the percentage of stream length in poor condition within 9 separate U.S. ecoregions ranged from 4% to 42%. Associations of our physical habitat indices with anthropogenic pressures demonstrate the scope of anthropogenic habitat alteration; habitat condition was negatively related to the level of anthropogenic disturbance nationally and in nearly all ecoregions. Relative risk estimates showed that streams and rivers with poor sediment, riparian cover complexity, or instream habitat cover conditions were 1.4 to 2.6 times as likely to also have fish or macroinvertebrate assemblages in poor condition. Our physical habitat condition indicators help explain deviations in biological conditions from those observed among least-disturbed sites and inform management actions for rehabilitating impaired waters and mitigating further ecological degradation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip R. Kaufmann
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research
and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Pacific
Ecological Systems Division, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, & Conservation
Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - Robert M. Hughes
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, & Conservation
Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
- Amnis Opes Institute, 2895 Southeast Glenn Street,
Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
| | - Steven G. Paulsen
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research
and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Pacific
Ecological Systems Division, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
| | - David V. Peck
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research
and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Pacific
Ecological Systems Division, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
| | | | - Tom Kincaid
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research
and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Pacific
Ecological Systems Division, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
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Kaufmann PR, Hughes RM, Paulsen SG, Peck DV, Seeliger CW, Weber MH, Mitchell RM. Physical habitat in conterminous US streams and rivers, Part 1: Geoclimatic controls and anthropogenic alteration. ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS 2022; 141:109046. [PMID: 35991319 PMCID: PMC9389819 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic alteration of physical habitat structure in streams and rivers is increasingly recognized as a major cause of impairment worldwide. As part of their assessment of the status and trends in the condition of rivers and streams in the U.S., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS) quantify and monitor channel size and slope, substrate size and stability, instream habitat complexity and cover, riparian vegetation cover and structure, anthropogenic disturbance activities, and channel-riparian interaction. Like biological assemblages and water chemistry, physical habitat is strongly controlled by natural geoclimatic factors that can obscure or amplify the influence of human activities. We developed a systematic approach to estimate the deviation of observed river and stream physical habitat from that expected in least-disturbed reference conditions. We applied this approach to calculate indices of anthropogenic alteration of three aspects of physical habitat condition in the conterminous U.S. (CONUS): streambed sediment size and stability, riparian vegetation cover, and instream habitat complexity. The precision and responsiveness of these indices led the USEPA to use them to evaluate physical habitat condition in CONUS rivers and streams. The scores of these indices systematically decreased with greater anthropogenic disturbance at river and stream sites in the CONUS and within ecoregions, which we interpret as a response of these physical habitat indices to anthropogenic influences. Although anthropogenic activities negatively influenced all three physical habitat indices in the least-disturbed sites within most ecoregions, natural geoclimatic and geomorphic factors were the dominant influences. For sites over the full range of anthropogenic disturbance, analyses of observed/expected sediment characteristics showed augmented flood flows and basin and riparian agriculture to be the leading predictors of streambed instability and excess fine sediments. Similarly, basin and riparian agriculture and non-agricultural riparian land uses were the leading predictors of reduced riparian vegetation cover complexity in the CONUS and within ecoregions. In turn, these reductions in riparian vegetation cover and complexity, combined with reduced summer low flows, were the leading predictors of instream habitat simplification. We conclude that quantitative measures of physical habitat structure are useful and important indicators of the impacts of human activities on stream and river condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip R. Kaufmann
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research
and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Pacific
Ecological Systems Division, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation
Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - Robert M. Hughes
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation
Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
- Amnis Opes Institute, 2895 Southeast Glenn Street,
Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
| | - Steven G. Paulsen
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research
and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Pacific
Ecological Systems Division, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
| | - David V. Peck
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research
and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Pacific
Ecological Systems Division, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
| | | | - Marc H. Weber
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research
and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Pacific
Ecological Systems Division, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA
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Amphibian Metacommunity Responses to Agricultural Intensification in a Mediterranean Landscape. LAND 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/land10090924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Agricultural intensification has been associated with biodiversity declines, habitat fragmentation and loss in a number of organisms. Given the prevalence of this process, there is a need for studies clarifying the effects of changes in agricultural practices on local biological communities; for instance, the transformation of traditional rainfed agriculture into intensively irrigated agriculture. We focused on pond-breeding amphibians as model organisms to assess the ecological effects of agricultural intensification because they are sensitive to changes in habitat quality at both local and landscape scales. We applied a metacommunity approach to characterize amphibian communities breeding in a network of ponds embedded in a terrestrial habitat matrix that was partly converted from rainfed crops to intensive irrigated agriculture in the 1990s. Specifically, we compared alpha and beta diversity, species occupancy and abundance, and metacommunity structure between irrigated and rainfed areas. We found strong differences in patterns of species occurrence, community structure and pairwise beta diversity between agricultural management groups, with a marked community structure in rainfed ponds associated with local features and the presence of some rare species that were nearly absent in the irrigated area, which was characterized by a random community structure. Natural vegetation cover at the landscape scale, significantly lower on the irrigated area, was an important predictor of species occurrences. Our results suggest that maintaining both local and landscape heterogeneity is key to preserving diverse amphibian communities in Mediterranean agricultural landscapes.
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Terui A, Finlay JC, Hansen AT, Kozarek JL. Quantifying cryptic function loss during community disassembly. J Appl Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Akira Terui
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota Saint Paul MN USA
- Department of Forest Science Graduate School of Agriculture Hokkaido University Sapporo Japan
- Department of Biology University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro NC USA
| | - Jacques C. Finlay
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota Saint Paul MN USA
- St. Anthony Falls Laboratory University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN USA
| | - Amy T. Hansen
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering University of Kansas Lawrence KS USA
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Ecological Models to Infer the Quantitative Relationship between Land Use and the Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Community. WATER 2018. [DOI: 10.3390/w10020184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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