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Esmaeili Ofogh AR, Ebrahimi Dorche E, Birk S, Fathi P, Zare Shahraki M, Bruder A. Improving the performance of macroinvertebrate based multi-metric indices by incorporating functional traits and an index performance-driven approach. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 931:172850. [PMID: 38688378 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Revised: 04/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Human-driven multiple pressures impact freshwater ecosystems worldwide, reducing biodiversity, and impacting ecosystem functioning and services provided to human societies. Multi-metric indices (MMIs) are suitable tools for tracking the effects of anthropogenic pressures on freshwater ecosystems because they incorporate various biological metrics responding to multiple pressures at different levels of biological organization. However, the performance and applicability of MMIs depend on their metrics' selection and their calibration against natural environmental gradients. In this study, we aimed to unravel i) how incorporating functional trait-based metrics affects the performance of MMIs, ii) how disentangling the natural environmental gradients from anthropogenic pressures effects affects the performance of MMIs, and iii) how the performance of MMIs developed using a metric performance-driven approach compares with MMIs developed using an index performance-driven approach. We carried out a field survey measuring abiotic and biotic variables at 53 sites in the Karun River basin (Iran) in 2018. For functional trait-based metrics, we used 15 macroinvertebrate traits and calculated community-weighted mean trait values and functional diversity indices. We used random forest modeling to account for the effect of natural environmental gradients on each metric. Based on our results, incorporating functional traits increased the MMI performance significantly and facilitated ecological interpretation of MMIs. Both taxonomic and functional components of macroinvertebrate assemblages co-varied strongly with natural environmental gradients, and accounting for these covariations improved the performance of MMIs. Finally, we found that index performance-driven MMIs performed better in terms of precision, bias, sensitivity, and responsiveness than metric performance-driven MMIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Reza Esmaeili Ofogh
- Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran; Institute of Microbiology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, 6850 Mendrisio, Switzerland
| | - Eisa Ebrahimi Dorche
- Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
| | - Sebastian Birk
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Biology, Aquatic Ecology, Universitätsstraße 5, 45141 Essen, Germany; Centre for Water and Environmental Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 5, 45141 Essen, Germany
| | - Pejman Fathi
- Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran; Institute of Microbiology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, 6850 Mendrisio, Switzerland
| | - Mojgan Zare Shahraki
- Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran; Institute of Microbiology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, 6850 Mendrisio, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Bruder
- Institute of Microbiology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, 6850 Mendrisio, Switzerland.
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Heß S, Hof D, Oetken M, Sundermann A. Macroinvertebrate communities respond strongly but non-specifically to a toxicity gradient derived by effect-based methods. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024; 356:124330. [PMID: 38848961 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2024] [Revised: 06/03/2024] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
Chemical pollution is one of the most important threats to freshwater ecosystems. The plethora of potentially occurring chemicals and their effects in complex mixtures challenge standard monitoring methods. Effect-based methods (EBMs) are proposed as complementary tools for the assessment of chemical pollution and toxic effects. To investigate the effects of chemical pollution, the ecological relevance of EBMs and the potential of macroinvertebrates as toxicity-specific bioindicators, ecological and ecotoxicological data were linked. Baseline toxicity, mutagenicity, dioxin-like and estrogenic activity of water and sediment samples from 30 river sites in central Germany were quantified with four in vitro bioassays. The responses of macroinvertebrate communities at these sites were assessed by calculating 16 taxonomic and functional metrics and by investigating changes in the taxonomic and trait composition. Principal component analysis revealed an increase in toxicity along a joint gradient of chemicals with different modes of action. This toxicity gradient was associated with a decrease in biodiversity and ecological quality, as well as significant changes in taxonomic and functional composition. The strength of the effects suggested a strong impact of chemical pollution and underlined the suitability of EBMs in detecting ecological relevant effects. However, the metrics, taxa, and traits associated with vulnerability or tolerance to toxicity were found to also respond to other stressors in previous studies and thus may have only a low potential as toxicity-specific bioindicators. Because macroinvertebrates respond integratively to all present stressors, linking both ecological and environmental monitoring is necessary to investigate the overall effects but also isolate individual stressors. EBMs have a high potential to separate the toxicity of chemical mixtures from other stressors in a multiple stressor scenario, as well as identifying the presence of chemical groups with specific modes of action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Heß
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystr. 12, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany; Goethe University Frankfurt, Faculty Biological Sciences, Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Delia Hof
- Goethe University Frankfurt, Faculty Biological Sciences, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Matthias Oetken
- Goethe University Frankfurt, Faculty Biological Sciences, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Kompetenzzentrum Wasser Hessen, Max-von-Laue-Straße 13, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Andrea Sundermann
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Clamecystr. 12, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany; Goethe University Frankfurt, Faculty Biological Sciences, Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Kompetenzzentrum Wasser Hessen, Max-von-Laue-Straße 13, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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McKenzie M, Brooks A, Callisto M, Collins AL, Durkota JM, Death RG, Jones JI, Linares MS, Matthaei CD, Monk WA, Murphy JF, Wagenhoff A, Wilkes M, Wood PJ, Mathers KL. Freshwater invertebrate responses to fine sediment stress: A multi-continent perspective. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2024; 30:e17084. [PMID: 38273567 PMCID: PMC10952627 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Excessive fine sediment (particles <2 mm) deposition in freshwater systems is a pervasive stressor worldwide. However, understanding of ecological response to excess fine sediment in river systems at the global scale is limited. Here, we aim to address whether there is a consistent response to increasing levels of deposited fine sediment by freshwater invertebrates across multiple geographic regions (Australia, Brazil, New Zealand and the UK). Results indicate ecological responses are not globally consistent and are instead dependent on both the region and the facet of invertebrate diversity considered, that is, taxonomic or functional trait structure. Invertebrate communities of Australia were most sensitive to deposited fine sediment, with the greatest rate of change in communities occurring when fine sediment cover was low (below 25% of the reach). Communities in the UK displayed a greater tolerance with most compositional change occurring between 30% and 60% cover. In both New Zealand and Brazil, which included the most heavily sedimented sampled streams, the communities were more tolerant or demonstrated ambiguous responses, likely due to historic environmental filtering of invertebrate communities. We conclude that ecological responses to fine sediment are not generalisable globally and are dependent on landscape filters with regional context and historic land management playing important roles.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrew Brooks
- Department of Planning and Environment, Surface Water ScienceNSW GovernmentWollongongNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Marcos Callisto
- Laboratory of Ecology of Benthos, Department of Genetics, Ecology and EvolutionInstitute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas GeraisBelo HorizonteBrazil
| | - Adrian L. Collins
- Net Zero and Resilient Farming, Rothamsted ResearchOkehamptonDevonUK
| | | | - Russell G. Death
- Innovative River Solutions, School of Agriculture and EnvironmentMassey UniversityPalmerston NorthNew Zealand
| | - J. Iwan Jones
- School of Biological and Behavioural SciencesQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
| | - Marden S. Linares
- Laboratory of Ecology of Benthos, Department of Genetics, Ecology and EvolutionInstitute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas GeraisBelo HorizonteBrazil
| | | | - Wendy A. Monk
- Faculty of Forestry and Environmental ManagementEnvironment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New BrunswickFrederictonNew BrunswickCanada
| | - John F. Murphy
- School of Biological and Behavioural SciencesQueen Mary University of LondonLondonUK
| | | | - Martin Wilkes
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of EssexColchesterUK
| | - Paul J. Wood
- Geography and EnvironmentLoughborough UniversityLoughboroughUK
| | - Kate L. Mathers
- Geography and EnvironmentLoughborough UniversityLoughboroughUK
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Morim T, Henriques S, Vasconcelos R, Dolbeth M. A roadmap to define and select aquatic biological traits at different scales of analysis. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22947. [PMID: 38135700 PMCID: PMC10746726 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50146-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Trait-based approaches are a powerful tool, as they not only improve understanding of ecological complexity and functioning but also allow comparison across different ecosystems and biogeographical regions. They may be used to unveil ecosystem processes and assess community structures, but their great potential becomes limited when dealing with scattered trait data and historically unstandardised trait nomenclature. The lack of standardisation allows authors to use the terminology of their preference, which inevitably leads to ambiguous misunderstandings and limits comparison between different studies. There have been some attempts to organise the trait vocabulary, but even these are mostly created from the perspective of a single ecosystem, which limits their applicability. In this work, we conducted a systematic literature review that identified and compiled 1127 traits across 37 datasets of fishes, invertebrates and zooplankton from freshwater, marine and transitional ecosystems. This dataset was then used to build on the Marine Species Traits Wiki and to propose a new, unified approach to a trait vocabulary based directly on readily available trait data. We propose a single standardised designation for all the different traits identified and provide a list of all the different synonyms commonly used for these traits. A roadmap to help the trait selection process is also provided, offering a guide through four main steps and important questions for choosing an adequate set of traits at the beginning of any study, which constitutes one of the main challenges in functional ecology research. Overall, this proposal will provide a solid baseline for tackling gaps in trait nomenclature and ensuring a clearer future for functional ecology studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teófilo Morim
- CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Novo Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Avenida General Norton de Matos s/n, 4450-208, Matosinhos, Portugal
| | - Sofia Henriques
- IPMA - Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Av. Dr. Alfredo Magalhães Ramalho 6, 1495-165, Algés, Portugal
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre & ARNET - Aquatic Research Infrastructure Network Associated Laboratory, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Rita Vasconcelos
- IPMA - Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Av. Dr. Alfredo Magalhães Ramalho 6, 1495-165, Algés, Portugal
| | - Marina Dolbeth
- CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Novo Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Avenida General Norton de Matos s/n, 4450-208, Matosinhos, Portugal.
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El Yaagoubi S, El Alami M, Harrak R, Azmizem A, Ikssi M, Aoulad Mansour MR. Assessment of functional feeding groups (FFG) structure of aquatic insects in North- western Rif - Morocco. Biodivers Data J 2023; 11:e104218. [PMID: 37362316 PMCID: PMC10285496 DOI: 10.3897/bdj.11.e104218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The involvement of trait-based approaches is crucial for understanding spatial patterns, energy flow and matter transfer in running water systems, which requires consistent knowledge of the functional structures of aquatic communities, with the advantage of combining physical properties and behavioral mechanisms of food acquisition rather than the taxonomic group. The present study indicated how functional feeding groups may be used as a proxy for classical taxonomic evaluation, as well as the potential interest in incorporating them as indicators of anthropogenic stressors. The composition and abundance of the functional feeding groups of aquatic insects were examined from September 2021 to August 2022 along the Western Rif Region. Benthic samples were collected from nine sampling points in the studied area using a Surber sampler with a mesh size of 500 µm and a diameter of 20*20 cm. The stations included in this work were chosen for their accessibility as well as their position on the hydrographic systems. The abundance of sampled aquatic organisms in the whole study area revealed 5,342 individuals belonging to 60 families and seven orders of aquatic insects, classified into five feeding functional groups. In terms of abundance, Collector-gatherers (Ephemeroptera and Diptera) were the most abundant trophic group at most of the sites, with a proportion of 38.47%. Predators (Coleoptera, Hemiptera and Odonata) were the second group at all sites, followed by Collector-filters, accounting for 39.53%, 28.14% and 22.37% respectively, while Scarpers and Shredders had the lowest representation across all sites with 4.16%. The high number of registered Collectors could be related to their ability to feed on a diverse range of food items compared to the remaining trophic guilds. According to the Canonical Correspondence Analysis results, physicochemical (i.e. T, pH, BOD5, Cl- and NO3-) and hydromorphological (i.e. current velocity and depth) variables were amongst the key predictors of shaping the functional structure of aquatic biota during this investigation. It is highly recommended to carry out suitable measures to largely attenuate anthropogenic pressures in order to preserve the integrity of freshwater bodies and their biota.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara El Yaagoubi
- Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, LESCB URL-CNRST N°18, FS, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tétouan 93000, MoroccoLaboratoire Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, LESCB URL-CNRST N°18, FS, Abdelmalek Essaadi UniversityTétouan 93000Morocco
| | - Majida El Alami
- Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, LESCB URL-CNRST N°18, FS, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tétouan 93000, MoroccoLaboratoire Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, LESCB URL-CNRST N°18, FS, Abdelmalek Essaadi UniversityTétouan 93000Morocco
| | - Rihab Harrak
- Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, LESCB URL-CNRST N°18, FS, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tétouan 93000, MoroccoLaboratoire Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, LESCB URL-CNRST N°18, FS, Abdelmalek Essaadi UniversityTétouan 93000Morocco
| | - Ahlame Azmizem
- Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, LESCB URL-CNRST N°18, FS, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tétouan 93000, MoroccoLaboratoire Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, LESCB URL-CNRST N°18, FS, Abdelmalek Essaadi UniversityTétouan 93000Morocco
| | - Mohamed Ikssi
- Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, LESCB URL-CNRST N°18, FS, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tétouan 93000, MoroccoLaboratoire Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, LESCB URL-CNRST N°18, FS, Abdelmalek Essaadi UniversityTétouan 93000Morocco
| | - Mohammed Reda Aoulad Mansour
- Chef de la Division du Domaine Public Hydraulique - Agence du Bassin Hydraulique du Loukkos, Tetouan 93000, MoroccoChef de la Division du Domaine Public Hydraulique - Agence du Bassin Hydraulique du LoukkosTetouan 93000Morocco
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Soil Moisture and Available Phosphorus as the Factors Driving Variation in Functional Characteristics across Different Restoration Communities in a Subtropical Mountain Ecosystem. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:biology12030427. [PMID: 36979119 PMCID: PMC10045093 DOI: 10.3390/biology12030427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023]
Abstract
Functional characteristics are increasingly used to evaluate the success of different vegetation restoration. Community functional diversity (FD) and the community-weighted mean (CWM), as two main complementary components, are closely linked to site environment and ecosystem functions. However, the patterns and driving factors of functional characteristics are still not clear in different vegetation restoration types. Here, four community restoration types (secondary shrubland, SL; Pinus yunnanensis forest, PF; mixed needle–broad-leaved forest, MF; natural secondary forest, NSF) were selected to investigate species diversity, FD, CWM, and soil physicochemical properties. The relative effects of species diversity and soil abiotic features on variation in functional characteristics were then evaluated. We found that different restoration communities altered most community structures and functional properties in terms of species diversity, FD, and CWM. CWM values and FD in different communities presented different distribution patterns depending on certain traits and parameters. Significant correlations between functional traits were found at the species and community scales, suggesting a potential covariation between these selected traits in communities. The results of redundancy analysis and variation partitioning showed that most of the variation in functional characteristics, especially CWM, was explained by soil moisture and available phosphorus, indicating that habitat filters regulate the functional characteristics of plant communities mainly by changing the dominant species composition and functional traits of species. Therefore, the selection of restoration species adapted to low soil moisture and available phosphorus and the construction of communities based on selected species as the dominant species can effectively drive community assembly and ecosystem functions in the vegetation restoration process.
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7
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Chen X, Han M, Liang Y, Zhao W, Wu Y, Sun Y, Shao H, McMinn A, Zhu L, Wang M. Progress in 'taxonomic sufficiency' in aquatic biological investigations. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2022; 185:114192. [PMID: 36356341 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 09/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The 'taxonomic sufficiency' (TS) approach has been applied to algae, protists, invertebrates, and vertebrates, generally by aggregating species-level abundance data to a higher taxonomic level, where genus-level data are often highly correlated with species-level data and are a valid proxy level. The TS approach offers the possibility of a comparison of data from different geographical areas and highlights the effects of contaminants. The TS approach is stable in the face of different researchers and in the comparison of long-term biological survey data. The effectiveness of the TS approach may increase with increasing environmental gradients or spatial area. The TS approach should be avoided when the spatial area is small and small differences in species-level data are considered important, so as not to cancel out the distribution patterns specific to the local environment of the biological taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuechao Chen
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China
| | - Meiaoxue Han
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China
| | - Yantao Liang
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China; UMT-OUC Joint Centre for Marine Studies, Qingdao 266003, China
| | - Wanting Zhao
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China
| | - Yuejiao Wu
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China
| | - Ying Sun
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China
| | - Hongbing Shao
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China; UMT-OUC Joint Centre for Marine Studies, Qingdao 266003, China
| | - Andrew McMinn
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China; Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.
| | - Liyan Zhu
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
| | - Min Wang
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China; The affiliated hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266000, China; UMT-OUC Joint Centre for Marine Studies, Qingdao 266003, China.
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8
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Hose GC, Chariton A, Daam MA, Di Lorenzo T, Galassi DMP, Halse SA, Reboleira ASPS, Robertson AL, Schmidt SI, Korbel KL. Invertebrate traits, diversity and the vulnerability of groundwater ecosystems. Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- G. C. Hose
- Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University NSW 2109 Australia
| | - A. Chariton
- Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University NSW 2109 Australia
| | - M. A. Daam
- CENSE ‐ Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research NOVA School of Science and Technology NOVA University Lisbon, 2829‐516 Caparica Portugal
| | - T. Di Lorenzo
- Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems of the National Research Council Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino Firenze Italy
- Emil Racovita Institute of Speleology Romanian Academy, Clinicilor 5, Cluj Napoca 400006 Romania
| | - D. M. P. Galassi
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences University of L'Aquila Via Vetoio, Coppito, 67100 L'Aquila Italy
| | - S. A. Halse
- Bennelongia Environmental Consultants, Jolimont WA 6014 Australia
| | - A. S. P. S. Reboleira
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa Lisbon Portugal
- Natural History Museum of Life and Health Sciences Denmark and University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen Denmark
| | - A. L. Robertson
- School of Life and Health Sciences University of Roehampton, Holybourne Avenue, London SW15 4JD UK
| | - S. I. Schmidt
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Hydrobiology Na Sádkách 7, 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic
- Present address: Department of Lake Research, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research Magdeburg Germany
| | - K. L. Korbel
- Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University NSW 2109 Australia
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Mercado‐Garcia D, Beeckman E, Van Butsel J, Deza Arroyo N, Sanchez Peña M, Forio MAE, De Schamphelaere K, Wyseure G, Goethals P. Freshwater macroinvertebrate traits assessment as complementary to taxonomic information for mining impact detection in the northern Peruvian Andes. DIVERS DISTRIB 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Mercado‐Garcia
- Aquatic Ecology Research Unit (AECO) Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology Ghent University Ghent Belgium
| | - Eveline Beeckman
- Aquatic Ecology Research Unit (AECO) Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology Ghent University Ghent Belgium
| | - Jana Van Butsel
- Aquatic Ecology Research Unit (AECO) Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology Ghent University Ghent Belgium
| | - Nilton Deza Arroyo
- Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca Cajamarca Perú
| | - Marco Sanchez Peña
- Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca Cajamarca Perú
- Carrera de Ingeniería Ambiental Facultad de Ingeniería Universidad Privada del Norte Cajamarca Perú
| | - Marie Anne Eurie Forio
- Aquatic Ecology Research Unit (AECO) Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology Ghent University Ghent Belgium
| | - Karel A. C. De Schamphelaere
- Environmental Toxicology Research Unit (GhEnToxLab) Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology Ghent University Ghent Belgium
| | - Guido Wyseure
- Division of Soil and Water Management Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences KU Leuven Leuven Belgium
| | - Peter Goethals
- Aquatic Ecology Research Unit (AECO) Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology Ghent University Ghent Belgium
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10
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Bani A, Randall KC, Clark DR, Gregson BH, Henderson DK, Losty EC, Ferguson RM. Mind the gaps: What do we know about how multiple chemical stressors impact freshwater aquatic microbiomes? ADV ECOL RES 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2022.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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11
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Jacks F, Milošević D, Watson V, Beazley KF, Medeiros AS. Bioassessment of the ecological integrity of freshwater ecosystems using aquatic macroinvertebrates: the case of Sable Island National Park Reserve, Canada. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2021; 193:257. [PMID: 33837466 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-021-09055-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 04/04/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Due to ubiquitous distribution of taxa, relatively low-cost and efficient sampling procedure, and known responses to environmental gradients, macroinvertebrate indicators are often a central component of biological monitoring of freshwater resources. This study examined establishing a baseline reference of benthic macroinvertebrate indicators in a biomonitoring approach as a means for monitoring the freshwater ponds of Sable Island National Park Reserve (SINPR), Canada. We compared water quality parameters monitored from 2015 to 2019 to a biomonitoring approach deployed in May, June, and August of 2019. A total of 27 taxa were recorded from the 30,226 specimens collected, with highest abundances of Corixidae, Amphipoda, Oligochaeta, and chironomid species Polypedilum bicrenatum. We found significant variability of community structure between different months of sampling (p = 0.001) and between ponds (p < 0.0001). A high correlation was found between dissolved organic carbon, sulfate, and the diversity of macroinvertebrate indicators, while conductivity, ammonia, and calcium were found to be correlated with species richness. While we found that water chemistry parameters exhibited spatial and temporal differences, the diversity of macroinvertebrate indicators is likely to be a more resilient metric for comparison between ponds. Further, our findings demonstrate that biomonitoring can be effective in systems with a low number of small, shallow, freshwater pond ecosystems. As our study deployed a high-resolution identification of biological indicators, we were able to establish a baseline reference for future monitoring as well as identify specific associations between pond water quality and biological assemblages that can be used as a context for the management of SINPR's freshwater resources. Continued monitoring of these ecosystems in future years will help to understand long-term environmental changes on the island.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederica Jacks
- School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
| | - Djuradj Milošević
- School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Niš, Niš, Serbia
| | - Victoria Watson
- School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
| | - Karen F Beazley
- School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
| | - Andrew S Medeiros
- School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
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12
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Polidoro B, Matson CW, Ottinger MA, Renegar DA, Romero IC, Schlenk D, Wise JP, Beltrán González J, Bruns P, Carpenter K, Cobián Rojas D, Collier TK, Duda TF, González-Díaz P, Di Giulio R, Grubbs RD, Haney JC, Incardona JP, Horta-Puga G, Linardich C, Moore JA, Pech D, Perera Valderrama S, Ralph GM, Strongin K, Ringwood AH, Würsig B. A multi-taxonomic framework for assessing relative petrochemical vulnerability of marine biodiversity in the Gulf of Mexico. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 763:142986. [PMID: 33168243 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2020] [Revised: 10/04/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
A fundamental understanding of the impact of petrochemicals and other stressors on marine biodiversity is critical for effective management, restoration, recovery, and mitigation initiatives. As species-specific information on levels of petrochemical exposure and toxicological response are lacking for the majority of marine species, a trait-based assessment to rank species vulnerabilities to petrochemical activities in the Gulf of Mexico can provide a more comprehensive and effective means to prioritize species, habitats, and ecosystems for improved management, restoration and recovery. To initiate and standardize this process, we developed a trait-based framework, applicable to a wide range of vertebrate and invertebrate species, that can be used to rank relative population vulnerabilities of species to petrochemical activities in the Gulf of Mexico. Through expert consultation, 18 traits related to likelihood of exposure, individual sensitivity, and population resilience were identified and defined. The resulting multi-taxonomic petrochemical vulnerability framework can be adapted and applied to a wide variety of species groups and geographic regions. Additional recommendations and guidance on the application of the framework to rank species vulnerabilities under specific petrochemical exposure scenarios, management needs or data limitations are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beth Polidoro
- School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Arizona State University, 4701 W. Thunderbird Rd, Glendale, AZ 85306, USA.
| | - Cole W Matson
- Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97266, Waco, TX 76798, USA
| | - Mary Ann Ottinger
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, 3455 Cullen Boulevard, #221E, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5001, USA
| | - D Abigail Renegar
- Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, 8000 North Ocean Drive, Dania, FL 33004, USA
| | - Isabel C Romero
- University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, 140 7th Ave S, St Petersburg, FL 33701, USA
| | - Daniel Schlenk
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California Riverside, 900 University Blvd., Riverside, CA 92054, USA
| | - John Pierce Wise
- Wise Laboratory of Environmental and Genetic Toxicology, 500 S. Preston St., 55A Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
| | - Jesús Beltrán González
- Centro de Investigación y Manejo Ambiental del Transporte (Cimab), Ctra. del Cristo esq. Tiscornia, Casablanca, Habana, Cuba
| | - Peter Bruns
- Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97266, Waco, TX 76798, USA
| | - Kent Carpenter
- International Union for Conservation of Nature Marine Biodiversity Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, 5115 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
| | - Dorka Cobián Rojas
- Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes, Centro de Investigaciones y Servicios Ambientales (ECOVIDA), Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Medio Ambiente (CITMA), La Bajada, 22100 Sandino, Pinar Del Río, Cuba
| | - Tracy K Collier
- Huxley College of the Environment, Western Washington University, 516 High Street, Bellingham, WA 98225-9079, USA
| | - Thomas F Duda
- Museum of Zoology & Department of Ecology of Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, 1105 N. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1085, USA
| | - Patricia González-Díaz
- Centro de Investigaciones Marinas, Universidad de La Habana, Calle 16, No. 114 entre 1ra y 3ra, Municipio Playa, La Habana CP: 11300, Cuba
| | - Richard Di Giulio
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Research Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - R Dean Grubbs
- Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory, 3618 Highway 98, St. Teresa, FL 32358, USA
| | - J Christopher Haney
- Terra Mar Applied Sciences, 1370 Tewkesbury Place NW, Washington, DC 20012, USA
| | - John P Incardona
- Ecotoxicology Program, Environmental Conservation Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, WA 98112, USA
| | - Guillermo Horta-Puga
- Lab. Biogeoquímica, UBIPRO, FES Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. de los Barrios 1, Los Reyes Iztacala, Tlalnepantla, México 54090, Mexico
| | - Christi Linardich
- International Union for Conservation of Nature Marine Biodiversity Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, 5115 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
| | - Jon A Moore
- Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University, 5353 Parkside Dr., Jupiter, FL 33458, USA; Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, 5600 US 1, Ft. Pierce, FL 34964, USA
| | - Daniel Pech
- Laboratorio de Biodiversidad Marina y Cambio Climático (BIOMARCCA), El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Lerma, 24500 Campeche, Mexico
| | - Susana Perera Valderrama
- National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), Liga Periférico - Insurgentes Sur 4903, Parques del Pedregal, Tlalpan, 14010 Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Gina M Ralph
- International Union for Conservation of Nature Marine Biodiversity Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, 5115 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
| | - Kyle Strongin
- School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Arizona State University, 4701 W. Thunderbird Rd, Glendale, AZ 85306, USA
| | - Amy H Ringwood
- Dept of Biology, 9201 University City Blvd, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
| | - Bernd Würsig
- Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University at Galveston, 200 Seawolf Pkwy, Galveston, TX 77553, USA
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Abstract
We carried out an overview of the studies on the traits of the meiofauna of the littoral zone of lakes to investigate the question relating to the Raunkiaeran shortfall (lack of knowledge on biological traits). For this purpose, we selected a series of keywords associated with response and effect traits (feeding habits, locomotion and substrate relation, body size, shape and mass, life history, reproductive strategy, respiration and thermal tolerance) and we counted the relative frequency of occurrence in a set of scientific papers retrieved from Web of Science. The results showed that, except for the traits related to diet and feeding habits, the Raunkiaeran shortfall is very pronounced for all meiofaunal taxa of the littoral zone of lakes, especially for those related to soft-bodied organisms. The reason behind this deficiency concerns many aspects ranging from the high taxonomic expertise required to the intrinsic difficulties of observing organisms of such a small size. The relationship with temperature has not been sufficiently explored and formalized in any of the examined traits; this research aspect needs to be rapidly addressed since the prospects of climate change impacts on lake littorals are expected to be particularly severe.
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14
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Peng FJ, Ter Braak CJF, Rico A, Van den Brink PJ. Double constrained ordination for assessing biological trait responses to multiple stressors: A case study with benthic macroinvertebrate communities. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 754:142171. [PMID: 33254878 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2020] [Revised: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Benthic macroinvertebrate communities are used as indicators for anthropogenic stress in freshwater ecosystems. To better understand the relationship between anthropogenic stress and changes in macroinvertebrate community composition, it is important to understand how different stressors and species traits are associated, and how these associations influence variation in species occurrence and abundances. Here, we show the capacity of the multivariate technique of double constrained correspondence analysis (dc-CA) to analyse trait-environment relationships, and we compare it with the redundancy analysis method on community weighted mean values of traits (CWM-RDA), which is frequently used for this type of analysis. The analyses were based on available biomonitoring data for macroinvertebrate communities from the Danube River. Results from forward selection of traits and environmental variables using dc-CA analyses showed that aquatic stages, reproduction techniques, dispersal tactics, locomotion and substrate relations, altitude, longitudinal and transversal distribution, and substrate preferendum were significantly related to habitat characteristics, hydromorphological alterations and water quality measurements such as physico-chemical parameters, heavy metals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. Environmental variables significantly associated with traits using the CWM-RDA method were generally consistent with those found in dc-CA analysis. However, the CWM-RDA does neither test nor explicitly select traits, while dc-CA tests and selects both traits and environmental variables. Moreover, the dc-CA analysis revealed that the set of environmental variables was much better in explaining the community data than the available trait set, a kind of information that can neither be obtained from CWM-RDA nor from RLQ (Environment, Link and Trait data), which is a close cousin of dc-CA but not regression-based. Our results suggest that trait-based analysis based on dc-CA may be useful to assess mechanistic links between multiple anthropogenic stressors and ecosystem health, but more data sets should be analysed in the same manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng-Jiao Peng
- Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands; Human Biomonitoring Research Unit, Department of Population Health, Luxembourg Institute of Health, 1 A-B rue Thomas Edison, 1445 Strassen, Luxembourg.
| | - Cajo J F Ter Braak
- Biometris, Wageningen University & Research, PO Box 16, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Andreu Rico
- IMDEA Water Institute, Science and Technology Campus of the University of Alcalá, Avenida Punto Com 2, 28805, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Paul J Van den Brink
- Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands; Wageningen Environmental Research, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
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15
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Sumudumali RGI, Jayawardana JMCK. A Review of Biological Monitoring of Aquatic Ecosystems Approaches: with Special Reference to Macroinvertebrates and Pesticide Pollution. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2021; 67:263-276. [PMID: 33462679 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-020-01423-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2020] [Accepted: 12/29/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Biological monitoring is the evaluating changes in the environment using the biological responses with the intent of using such information in quality control of the ecosystem. Biomarkers and bioindicators are two main components of the hierarchy of biomonitoring process. Bioindicators can be used to monitor changes of ecosystems and to distinguish alteration of human impact from natural variability. There is a wide range of aquatic taxa such as macroinvertebrates, fish and periphyton, planktons which are successfully used in the biomonitoring process. Among them, macroinvertebrates are an important group of aquatic organisms that involves transferring energy and material through the trophic levels of the aquatic food chain and their sensitivity to environmental changes differs among the species. The main approaches of assessing freshwater ecosystems health using macroinvertebrates include measurement of diversity indices, biotic indices, multimetric approaches, multivariate approaches, Indices of Biological Integrity (IBI), and trait-based approaches. Among these, biotic indices and multimetric approaches are commonly used to evaluate the pesticide impacts on aquatic systems. Recently developed trait-based approaches such as SPEcies At Risk of pesticides (SPEAR) index was successfully applied in temperate regions to monitor the events of pesticide pollution of aquatic ecosystems but with limited use in tropics. This paper reviews the literature on different approaches of biomonitoring of the aquatic environment giving special reference to macroinvertebrates. It also reviews the literature on how biomonitoring could be used to monitor pesticide pollution of the aquatic environment. Thus the review aims to instil the importance of current approaches of biomonitoring for the conservation and management of aquatic ecosystems especially in the regions of the world where such knowledge has not been integrated in ecosystem conservation approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- R G I Sumudumali
- Faculty of Graduate Studies, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Belihuloya, Sri Lanka
| | - J M C K Jayawardana
- Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Belihuloya, Sri Lanka.
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16
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DE OLIVEIRA SODRÉ ELDER, LANGLAIS-BOURASSA ALEXANDRE, POLLARD AMINAI, BEISNER BEATRIXE. Functional and taxonomic biogeography of phytoplankton and zooplankton communities in relation to environmental variation across the contiguous USA. JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH 2020; 42:10.1093/plankt/fbaa002. [PMID: 34366500 PMCID: PMC8340606 DOI: 10.1093/plankt/fbaa002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
For biomonitoring of aquatic ecosystems, the use of coarse group classifications, either taxonomic or functional, has been proposed as an alternative to more highly resolved taxonomic identification. We tested this proposition for phytoplankton and zooplankton using a pan-United States dataset, which also allows us to investigate biogeographic relationships between plankton groups and environmental variables. We used data from 1010 lakes composing the 2012 US National Lakes Assessment and compared relationships derived using genus-level, more aggregated taxonomic resolution and functional types. We examined responses nationally and by ecoregion. Differences in plankton assemblages among ecoregions were detected, especially at genus-level classification. Our analyses show a gradient of altitude and temperature influencing both phytoplankton and zooplankton, and another gradient of nutrients and anthropogenic activity influencing mostly phytoplankton. The overall variation in the planktonic communities explained by environmental variables ranged from 4 to 22%, but together indicated that aggregated taxonomic classification performed better for phytoplankton; for zooplankton, the performance of different classification types depended on the ecoregion. Our analyses also revealed linkages between particular phytoplankton and zooplankton groups, mainly attributable to similar environmental responses and trophic interactions. Overall, the results support the applicability of coarse classifications to infer general responses of plankton communities to environmental drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- ELDER DE OLIVEIRA SODRÉ
- DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND GROUPE DE RECHERCHE UNIVERSITAIRE EN LIMNOLOGIE ET EN ENVIRONNEMENT AQUATIQUE (GRIL), UNIVERSITY OF QUÉBEC AT MONTRÉAL, C.P. 8888, SUCC. CENTRE-VILLE, MONTRÉAL, QC H3C 3P8, CANADA
- DEPARTAMENTO DE ECOLOGIA, UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO DE JANEIRO, CCS, IB, CAIXA POSTAL 68020, CEP 21941-970, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRASIL
| | - ALEXANDRE LANGLAIS-BOURASSA
- DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND GROUPE DE RECHERCHE UNIVERSITAIRE EN LIMNOLOGIE ET EN ENVIRONNEMENT AQUATIQUE (GRIL), UNIVERSITY OF QUÉBEC AT MONTRÉAL, C.P. 8888, SUCC. CENTRE-VILLE, MONTRÉAL, QC H3C 3P8, CANADA
| | - AMINA I. POLLARD
- UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, OFFICE OF WATER, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004 USA
| | - BEATRIX E. BEISNER
- DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND GROUPE DE RECHERCHE UNIVERSITAIRE EN LIMNOLOGIE ET EN ENVIRONNEMENT AQUATIQUE (GRIL), UNIVERSITY OF QUÉBEC AT MONTRÉAL, C.P. 8888, SUCC. CENTRE-VILLE, MONTRÉAL, QC H3C 3P8, CANADA
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17
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Peng FJ, Pan CG, Zhang NS, Ter Braak CJF, Salvito D, Selck H, Ying GG, Van den Brink PJ. Benthic invertebrate and microbial biodiversity in sub-tropical urban rivers: Correlations with environmental variables and emerging chemicals. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 709:136281. [PMID: 31905563 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Revised: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Urban rivers often function as sinks for various contaminants potentially placing the benthic communities at risk of exposure. We performed a comprehensive biological survey of the benthic macroinvertebrate and bacterial community compositions in six rivers from the suburb to the central urban area of Guangzhou city (South China), and evaluated their correlations with emerging organic contaminants, heavy metals and nutrients. Overall, the benthic macroinvertebrate community shifted from molluscs to oligochaete from the suburban to the central urban rivers that receive treated and untreated sewage. An exception was the site in the Sha River where chironomids were most abundant. The differences in macroinvertebrate community assemblages were significantly associated with chromium, total phosphorus, galaxolide, triclosan and sand content in the sediment. There was no significant difference in benthic macroinvertebrate composition between the dry and wet season. As assessed by double constrained ordination, sexual reproduction was the only trait of benthic macroinvertebrates that showed a significant correlation with pollution variables, as it was significantly positively correlated with chromium and total phosphorus. This suggests that r-strategist occurs in polluted sampling sites. The benthic bacterial community composition showed a significant difference between seasons and among the Liuxi River, Zhujiang River and central urban rivers. The differences in community composition of the benthic bacteria were significantly correlated with galaxolide, total phosphorus, lead and triclosan. These results suggest that input of treated and untreated sewage significantly altered the benthic macroinvertebrate and bacterial community compositions in urban rivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng-Jiao Peng
- Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands; Human Biomonitoring Research Unit, Department of Population Health, Luxembourg Institute of Health, 1 A-B rue Thomas Edison, 1445 Strassen, Luxembourg.
| | - Chang-Gui Pan
- School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Nai-Sheng Zhang
- Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Cajo J F Ter Braak
- Biometris, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Daniel Salvito
- Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, 50 Tice Boulevard, Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677, USA
| | - Henriette Selck
- Department of Science and Environment, Roskilde University, Universitetsvej 1, Denmark
| | - Guang-Guo Ying
- The Environmental Research Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution and Environmental Safety & MOE Key Laboratory of Environmental Theoretical Chemistry, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Paul J Van den Brink
- Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands; Wageningen Environmental Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
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18
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Hajibabaei M, Porter TM, Robinson CV, Baird DJ, Shokralla S, Wright MTG. Watered-down biodiversity? A comparison of metabarcoding results from DNA extracted from matched water and bulk tissue biomonitoring samples. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0225409. [PMID: 31830042 PMCID: PMC6907778 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2019] [Accepted: 10/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Biomonitoring programs have evolved beyond the sole use of morphological identification to determine the composition of invertebrate species assemblages in an array of ecosystems. The application of DNA metabarcoding in freshwater systems for assessing benthic invertebrate communities is now being employed to generate biological information for environmental monitoring and assessment. A possible shift from the extraction of DNA from net-collected bulk benthic samples to its extraction directly from water samples for metabarcoding has generated considerable interest based on the assumption that taxon detectability is comparable when using either method. To test this, we studied paired water and benthos samples from a taxon-rich wetland complex, to investigate differences in the detection of arthropod taxa from each sample type. We demonstrate that metabarcoding of DNA extracted directly from water samples is a poor surrogate for DNA extracted from bulk benthic samples, focusing on key bioindicator groups. Our results continue to support the use of bulk benthic samples as a basis for metabarcoding-based biomonitoring, with nearly three times greater total richness in benthic samples compared to water samples. We also demonstrated that few arthropod taxa are shared between collection methods, with a notable lack of key bioindicator EPTO taxa in the water samples. Although species coverage in water could likely be improved through increased sample replication and/or increased sequencing depth, benthic samples remain the most representative, cost-effective method of generating aquatic compositional information via metabarcoding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehrdad Hajibabaei
- Centre for Biodiversity Genomics and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Teresita M. Porter
- Centre for Biodiversity Genomics and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
- Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Natural Resources Canada, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
| | - Chloe V. Robinson
- Centre for Biodiversity Genomics and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Donald J. Baird
- Environment and Climate Change Canada @ Canadian Rivers Institute, Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
| | - Shadi Shokralla
- Centre for Biodiversity Genomics and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Michael T. G. Wright
- Centre for Biodiversity Genomics and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
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19
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Potential of A Trait-Based Approach in the Characterization of An N-Contaminated Alluvial Aquifer. WATER 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/w11122553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Groundwater communities residing in contaminated aquifers have been investigated mainly through taxonomy-based approaches (i.e., analyzing taxonomic richness and abundances) while ecological traits have been rarely considered. The aim of this study was to assess whether a trait analysis adds value to the traditional taxonomy-based biomonitoring in N-contaminated aquifers. To this end, we monitored 40 bores in the Vomano alluvial aquifer (VO_GWB, Italy) for two years. The aquifer is a nitrate vulnerable zone according to the Water Framework Directive. The traditional taxonomy-based approach revealed an unexpectedly high biodiversity (38 taxa and 5725 individuals), dominated by crustaceans, comparable to that of other unpolluted alluvial aquifers worldwide. This result is in contrast with previous studies and calls into question the sensitivity of stygobiotic species to N-compounds. The trait analysis provided an added value to the study, unveiling signs of impairments of the groundwater community such as low juveniles-to-adults and males-to-females ratios and a crossover of biomasses and abundances curves suggestive of an intermediate alteration of the copepod assemblages.
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20
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Chen K, Rajper AR, Hughes RM, Olson JR, Wei H, Wang B. Incorporating functional traits to enhance multimetric index performance and assess land use gradients. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 691:1005-1015. [PMID: 31326793 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2019] [Revised: 07/03/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Taxonomic-based multimetric indices (MMIs) have been widely employed for assessing ecosystem status, particularly through the use of stream macroinvertebrate assemblages. However, the functional diversity and composition of assemblages is also important for maintaining stream ecosystem condition. Nonetheless, aquatic insect functional diversity and composition have not commonly been included in MMIs. Our goal was to advance our understanding of the performance and ecological interpretation of an MMI that potentially combined functional and taxonomic metrics. We sampled aquatic insects and natural and land-use variables at 74 temperate Chinese streams. We selected a candidate set of 36 functional and 20 taxonomic metrics that were screened by range tests, natural variation, responsiveness to anthropogenic disturbance, and redundancy for subsequent inclusion in MMIs. We determined if natural variation adjustments improved the performance of a functional-taxonomic MMI. Finally, we evaluated the degree to which the functional-taxonomic MMI served as an early-warning indicator of land use intensity. Natural variation explained between 19.62% and 71.02% of metric variability, indicating that functional metrics changed systematically along natural gradients. The final functional-taxonomic MMI adjusted for natural variation incorporated multiple aspects of assemblage characteristics: functional richness, Rao's quadratic entropy, abundance-weighted frequency of soft bodies, abundance-weighted frequency of predators, and number of Diptera taxa. In contrast to the natural variation unadjusted MMI, the functional-taxonomic adjusted MMI clearly distinguished least-disturbed sites from most-disturbed sites, exhibited high precision and low bias, and showed a significant negative response to land uses. The slope of a linear regression relative to 0-10% urban and 0-20% agriculture was significantly steeper for the functional-taxonomic adjusted MMI than that of the taxonomic adjusted MMI. We conclude that functional-taxonomic adjusted MMIs are more effective indicators of ecological condition and risks to biota from human pressures than are purely taxonomic unadjusted MMIs because functional-taxonomic MMIs are more sensitive to subtle anthropogenic pressures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Chen
- Department of Entomology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, PR China.
| | - Abdul Razzaque Rajper
- Department of Entomology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, PR China.
| | - Robert M Hughes
- Amnis Opes Institute and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA.
| | - John R Olson
- School of Natural Sciences, California State University Monterey Bay, Seaside, CA 93955, USA.
| | - Huiyu Wei
- Department of Entomology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, PR China.
| | - Beixin Wang
- Department of Entomology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, PR China.
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21
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Van den Berg SJP, Baveco H, Butler E, De Laender F, Focks A, Franco A, Rendal C, Van den Brink PJ. Modeling the Sensitivity of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates to Chemicals Using Traits. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2019; 53:6025-6034. [PMID: 31008596 PMCID: PMC6535724 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b00893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2019] [Revised: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 04/22/2019] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
In this study, a trait-based macroinvertebrate sensitivity modeling tool is presented that provides two main outcomes: (1) it constructs a macroinvertebrate sensitivity ranking and, subsequently, a predictive trait model for each one of a diverse set of predefined Modes of Action (MOAs) and (2) it reveals data gaps and restrictions, helping with the direction of future research. Besides revealing taxonomic patterns of species sensitivity, we find that there was not one genus, family, or class which was most sensitive to all MOAs and that common test taxa were often not the most sensitive at all. Traits like life cycle duration and feeding mode were identified as important in explaining species sensitivity. For 71% of the species, no or incomplete trait data were available, making the lack of trait data the main obstacle in model construction. Research focus should therefore be on completing trait databases and enhancing them with finer morphological traits, focusing on the toxicodynamics of the chemical (e.g., target site distribution). Further improved sensitivity models can help with the creation of ecological scenarios by predicting the sensitivity of untested species. Through this development, our approach can help reduce animal testing and contribute toward a new predictive ecotoxicology framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanne J. P. Van den Berg
- Aquatic
Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Department
of Biology, University of Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000 Namur, Belgium
| | - Hans Baveco
- Wageningen
Environmental Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Emma Butler
- Safety
and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook MK441LQ, United Kingdom
| | - Frederik De Laender
- Department
of Biology, University of Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000 Namur, Belgium
| | - Andreas Focks
- Wageningen
Environmental Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Antonio Franco
- Safety
and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook MK441LQ, United Kingdom
| | - Cecilie Rendal
- Safety
and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook MK441LQ, United Kingdom
| | - Paul J. Van den Brink
- Aquatic
Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Wageningen
Environmental Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
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22
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Misaki T, Yokomizo H, Tanaka Y. Broad-scale effect of herbicides on functional properties in benthic invertebrate communities of rivers: An integrated analysis of biomonitoring and exposure evaluations. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2019; 171:173-180. [PMID: 30605846 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2018.12.089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2018] [Revised: 12/24/2018] [Accepted: 12/27/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
We conducted a broad-scale ecological effect assessment of agricultural chemicals where we combined biomonitoring databases of riverine invertebrate communities with predictions of environmental concentrations of chemicals, based on an exposure evaluation model for Japanese rivers. One of the difficulties of broad-scale assessment arises from the use of biomonitoring databases for which the monitoring sites are often spread across different geographic regions, with varying species compositions and heterogeneous environmental factors. This problem was circumvented using a trait-based approach, which extracts patterns of ecological properties of species response to changes in either chemical concentration or environmental factors. We identified groups of species that had particular trait categories that were negatively correlated with herbicide pollutants (the predicted concentration divided by the acute toxic concentration). Numerical abundances of species groups classified by trait categories had more sensitive responses to herbicide pollutants than total species abundance. However, a finding that trait diversity and species diversity indexes in the communities examined did not change with herbicide pollutants means that the two indexes showed resistance to chemical stresses. We inferred that the reason for the greater resistance in terms of trait and species diversity was that compositional changes of species caused by increasing herbicide pollutions were simply a shift from communities composed of susceptible species to those composed only of tolerant species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takahiro Misaki
- Civil Engineering and Eco-Technology Consultants Co., Ltd., Higashiikebukuro 2-23-2, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 170-0013, Japan; Center for Health and Environmental Risk Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Onogawa 16-2, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan.
| | - Hiroyuki Yokomizo
- Center for Health and Environmental Risk Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Onogawa 16-2, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan.
| | - Yoshinari Tanaka
- Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Sophia University, Kioicho 7-1, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8554, Japan.
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23
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Li Z, Wang J, Liu Z, Meng X, Heino J, Jiang X, Xiong X, Jiang X, Xie Z. Different responses of taxonomic and functional structures of stream macroinvertebrate communities to local stressors and regional factors in a subtropical biodiversity hotspot. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 655:1288-1300. [PMID: 30577121 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2018] [Revised: 11/15/2018] [Accepted: 11/15/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Examining the relative contribution of local environmental stressors and regional factors in structuring biological communities is essential for biodiversity conservation and environmental assessment, yet their relative roles for different community characterizations remain elusive. Here, we examined the responses of taxonomic and functional structures of stream macroinvertebrate communities to local and regional factors across a human-induced environmental gradient in the Han River Basin, one subtropical biodiversity hotspot in China. Our objectives were: 1) to examine the responses of traditional taxonomic measures and functional traits to anthropogenic disturbances; 2) to compare the relative importance of environmental versus spatial variables and catchment-scale versus reach-scale variables for the two community characterizations. We found that both species and trait compositions performed well in differentiating anthropogenic disturbances, indicating that both taxonomic and functional structures of macroinvertebrate communities were strongly altered by human activities. Particularly, some traits related to life history (e.g., voltinism), resilience and resistance (e.g., adult flying ability) are well suited for predicting changes of communities towards anthropogenic disturbances owing to their mechanistic relationship with environmental gradients. We found that environmental variables played more important roles than spatial effects in structuring both taxonomic and functional facets of macroinvertebrate communities. Environmental filtering was more important in determining functional than taxonomic structure, and the opposite was true for spatial effects. In terms of environmental variables, catchment land-uses played the primary role in determining taxonomic composition, whereas reach-scale variables related to local habitat heterogeneity were more influential for functional structure. Our study highlights the importance of employing metacommunity perspectives and different community characterizations in both theoretical and applied research. For stream bioassessment and management, we argue that the combination of taxonomic and functional characterizations of community should be implemented, as different facets of biological communities responded to different types of anthropogenic disturbances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengfei Li
- The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Jun Wang
- The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China.
| | - Zhenyuan Liu
- The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Xingliang Meng
- The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China.
| | - Jani Heino
- Biodiversity Centre, Finnish Environment Institute, Paavo Havaksen Tie 3, P.O. Box 413, 90014 Oulu, Finland.
| | - Xuankong Jiang
- The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Xiong Xiong
- The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China.
| | - Xiaoming Jiang
- The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulic in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an 710048, China.
| | - Zhicai Xie
- The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China.
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24
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Souza NFD, Baptista DF, Buss DF. A predictive index based on environmental filters for the bioassessment of river basins without reference areas in Atlantic Forest biome, Brazil. BIOTA NEOTROPICA 2019. [DOI: 10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2018-0601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Abstract: Biological assessments that use the reference condition approach are based on the concept of comparing a site's observed biology to sites where disturbance is minimal or absent. However, in many regions of the world, such areas are scarce or nonexistent. In this study, an alternative approach proposed by Chessman and Royal for bioassessment without reference areas based on environmental filters was tested in Brazil. This approach assumes that key environmental features act in the selection of potential colonists, from a regional pool of taxa, based on the ecological traits (tolerances) possessed by each taxon. We developed the approach by: 1) determining the regional pool, based on a large Atlantic Forest biome database; 2) selecting environmental filters (elevation, original vegetation and soil type); and 3) including information on the tolerance and preferences of aquatic insects to these filters. With this information we were able to determine the expected taxon under natural conditions and compare with observed taxon, developing a predictive index (Observed/Expected). Although the model was intended to predict the fauna in regions without reference sites, we included reference areas to test the model responsiveness, precision and sensitivity. Our results indicated that the index was able to discriminate impairment classes (F=56.9; p<0,001), it has high precision due to low standard deviation across reference sites values (SD=0.098) and high sensitivity due the correlation with environmental variables that are sensitive to human alteration (r=0.74, p<0.01). Also, it was strongly correlated with multimetric indices developed for multiple watersheds in the state, showing agreement between the methods in relation to ecological quality classification. Even though the predictive index had performed well in our study, we make some considerations that may help to improve its sensitivity of similar methods that are being tested using the environmental filters approach.
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25
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Brousseau PM, Gravel D, Handa IT. On the development of a predictive functional trait approach for studying terrestrial arthropods. J Anim Ecol 2018; 87:1209-1220. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2017] [Accepted: 03/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pierre-Marc Brousseau
- Département des Sciences Biologiques; Université du Québec à Montréal; Montréal QC Canada
| | - Dominique Gravel
- Département de Biologie; Canada Research Chair on Integrative Ecology; Université de Sherbrooke; Sherbrooke QC Canada
| | - Ira Tanya Handa
- Département des Sciences Biologiques; Université du Québec à Montréal; Montréal QC Canada
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26
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Berger E, Haase P, Schäfer RB, Sundermann A. Towards stressor-specific macroinvertebrate indices: Which traits and taxonomic groups are associated with vulnerable and tolerant taxa? THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2018; 619-620:144-154. [PMID: 29145051 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2017] [Revised: 11/02/2017] [Accepted: 11/02/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Monitoring of macroinvertebrate communities is frequently used to define the ecological health status of rivers. Ideally, biomonitoring should also give an indication on the major stressors acting on the macroinvertebrate communities supporting the selection of appropriate management measures. However, most indices are affected by more than one stressor. Biological traits (e.g. size, generation time, reproduction) could potentially lead to more stressor-specific indices. However, such an approach has rarely been tested. In this study we classify 324 macroinvertebrate taxa as vulnerable (decreasing abundances) or tolerant (increasing abundances) along 21 environmental gradients (i.e. nutrients, major ions, oxygen and micropollutants) from 422 monitoring sites in Germany using Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis (TITAN). Subsequently, we investigate which biological traits and taxonomic groups are associated with taxa classified as vulnerable or tolerant with regard to specific gradients. The response of most taxa towards different gradients was similar and especially high for correlated gradients. Traits associated with vulnerable taxa across most gradients included: larval aquatic life stages, isolated cemented eggs, reproductive cycle per year <1, scrapers, aerial and aquatic active dispersal and plastron respiration. Traits associated with tolerant taxa included: adult aquatic life stages, polyvoltinism, ovoviviparity or egg clutches in vegetation, food preference for dead animals or living microinvertebrates, substrate preference for macrophytes, microphytes, silt or mud and a body size >2-4cm. Our results question whether stressor-specific indices based on macroinvertebrate assemblages can be achieved using single traits, because we observed that similar taxa responded to different gradients and also similar traits were associated with vulnerable and tolerant taxa across a variety of water quality gradients. Future studies should examine whether combinations of traits focusing on specific taxonomic groups achieve higher stressor specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth Berger
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Gelnhausen, Germany; Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; University Koblenz-Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, Department of Quantitative Landscape Ecology, Landau, Germany.
| | - Peter Haase
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Gelnhausen, Germany; University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Biology, Department of River and Floodplain Ecology, Essen, Germany
| | - Ralf B Schäfer
- University Koblenz-Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, Department of Quantitative Landscape Ecology, Landau, Germany
| | - Andrea Sundermann
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Gelnhausen, Germany; Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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27
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Hug Peter D, Sardy S, Diaz Rodriguez J, Castella E, Slaveykova VI. Modeling whole body trace metal concentrations in aquatic invertebrate communities: A trait-based approach. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2018; 233:419-428. [PMID: 29100179 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.10.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2017] [Revised: 10/09/2017] [Accepted: 10/12/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Trace metal risk assessment and environmental quality standard definition require realistic models that quantify metal exposure and accumulation by biota. In the present study we propose a novel trait-based approach to predict whole body concentrations of metals in aquatic invertebrates from concentrations measured in different environmental compartments. Field data from a large riverine floodplain was used to calibrate and test the model. The prediction performance of the trait-based model was unbiased and uncertainty was below the twofold of measured concentrations for the four studied metals (Ni, Cu, Cd, Pb). The relative contribution of feeding, respiration and locomotion patterns as well as metal concentrations in three environmental compartments provided insights into the importance of different uptake pathways. The relation with the sediment (i.e., to what degree taxa live in or directly on the sediment) was shown to be the most important trait to predict metal accumulation. Overall, this study demonstrated the potential use of bioecological traits for the modeling of whole body metal concentrations of entire aquatic invertebrate communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorothea Hug Peter
- Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Uni Carl Vogt, Boulevard Carl-Vogt 66, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Institute for Environmental Sciences (ISE), University of Geneva, Uni Carl Vogt, Boulevard Carl-Vogt 66, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sylvain Sardy
- Section of Mathematics, University of Geneva, rue du Lièvre 2-4, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Jairo Diaz Rodriguez
- Section of Mathematics, University of Geneva, rue du Lièvre 2-4, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Emmanuel Castella
- Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Uni Carl Vogt, Boulevard Carl-Vogt 66, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Institute for Environmental Sciences (ISE), University of Geneva, Uni Carl Vogt, Boulevard Carl-Vogt 66, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Vera I Slaveykova
- Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Uni Carl Vogt, Boulevard Carl-Vogt 66, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Institute for Environmental Sciences (ISE), University of Geneva, Uni Carl Vogt, Boulevard Carl-Vogt 66, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
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28
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Auber A, Travers-Trolet M, Villanueva MC, Ernande B. A new application of principal response curves for summarizing abrupt and cyclic shifts of communities over space. Ecosphere 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Arnaud Auber
- Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques; IFREMER; 150 quai Gambetta, BP699 62321 Boulogne-sur-Mer France
| | - Morgane Travers-Trolet
- Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques; IFREMER; 150 quai Gambetta, BP699 62321 Boulogne-sur-Mer France
| | - Maria Ching Villanueva
- Laboratoire Biologies Halieutiques-Unité Sciences et Technologies; IFREMER; ZI Pointe du Diable, BP 70 29280 Plouzane France
| | - Bruno Ernande
- Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques; IFREMER; 150 quai Gambetta, BP699 62321 Boulogne-sur-Mer France
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29
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Gerner NV, Cailleaud K, Bassères A, Liess M, Beketov MA. Sensitivity ranking for freshwater invertebrates towards hydrocarbon contaminants. ECOTOXICOLOGY (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2017; 26:1216-1226. [PMID: 28879485 DOI: 10.1007/s10646-017-1847-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/16/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Hydrocarbons have an utmost economical importance but may also cause substantial ecological impacts due to accidents or inadequate transportation and use. Currently, freshwater biomonitoring methods lack an indicator that can unequivocally reflect the impacts caused by hydrocarbons while being independent from effects of other stressors. The aim of the present study was to develop a sensitivity ranking for freshwater invertebrates towards hydrocarbon contaminants, which can be used in hydrocarbon-specific bioindicators. We employed the Relative Sensitivity method and developed the sensitivity ranking S hydrocarbons based on literature ecotoxicological data supplemented with rapid and mesocosm test results. A first validation of the sensitivity ranking based on an earlier field study has been conducted and revealed the S hydrocarbons ranking to be promising for application in sensitivity based indicators. Thus, the first results indicate that the ranking can serve as the core component of future hydrocarbon-specific and sensitivity trait based bioindicators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadine V Gerner
- Department System-Ecotoxicology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstraße 15, Leipzig, 04318, Germany.
- Quantitative Landscape Ecology, Institute for Environmental Science, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstraße 7, Landau, 76829, Germany.
- Emschergenossenschaft/Lippeverband, Kronprinzenstraße 24, Essen, 45128, Germany.
| | - Kevin Cailleaud
- TOTAL SA, PERL-Service Environment, RN 117-BP 47, Lacq, 64170, France
| | - Anne Bassères
- TOTAL SA, PERL-Service Environment, RN 117-BP 47, Lacq, 64170, France
| | - Matthias Liess
- Department System-Ecotoxicology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstraße 15, Leipzig, 04318, Germany
- RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Environmental Research (Biology V), Worringer Weg 1, Aachen, 52074, Germany
| | - Mikhail A Beketov
- Department System-Ecotoxicology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstraße 15, Leipzig, 04318, Germany
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30
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Höckendorff S, Tonkin JD, Haase P, Bunzel-Drüke M, Zimball O, Scharf M, Stoll S. Characterizing fish responses to a river restoration over 21 years based on species' traits. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2017; 31:1098-1108. [PMID: 28218807 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2016] [Revised: 01/31/2017] [Accepted: 02/09/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Understanding restoration effectiveness is often impaired by a lack of high-quality, long-term monitoring data and, to date, few researchers have used species' trait information to gain insight into the processes that drive the reaction of fish communities to restoration. We examined fish-community responses with a highly resolved data set from 21 consecutive years of electrofishing (4 years prerestoration and 17 years postrestoration) at multiple restored and unrestored reaches from a river restoration project on the Lippe River, Germany. Fish abundance peaked in the third year after the restoration; abundance was 6 times higher than before the restoration. After 5-7 years, species richness and abundance stabilized at 2 and 3.5 times higher levels relative to the prerestoration level, respectively. However, interannual variability of species richness and abundance remained considerable, illustrating the challenge of reliably assessing restoration outcomes based on data from individual samplings, especially in the first years following restoration. Life-history and reproduction-related traits best explained differences in species' responses to restoration. Opportunistic short-lived species with early female maturity and multiple spawning runs per year exhibited the strongest increase in abundance, which reflected their ability to rapidly colonize new habitats. These often small-bodied and fusiform fishes typically live in dynamic and ephemeral instream and floodplain areas that river-habitat restorations often aim to create, and in this case their increases in abundance indicated successful restoration. Our results suggest that a greater consideration of species' traits may enhance the causal understanding of community processes and the coupling of restoration to functional ecology. Trait-based assessments of restoration outcomes would furthermore allow for easier transfer of knowledge across biogeographic borders than studies based on taxonomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Höckendorff
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany
| | - Jonathan D Tonkin
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, U.S.A
| | - Peter Haase
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141, Essen, Germany
| | - Margret Bunzel-Drüke
- Arbeitsgemeinschaft Biologischer Umweltschutz im Kreis Soest e.V., 59505, Bad-Sassendorf-Lohne, Germany
| | - Olaf Zimball
- Arbeitsgemeinschaft Biologischer Umweltschutz im Kreis Soest e.V., 59505, Bad-Sassendorf-Lohne, Germany
| | - Matthias Scharf
- Arbeitsgemeinschaft Biologischer Umweltschutz im Kreis Soest e.V., 59505, Bad-Sassendorf-Lohne, Germany
| | - Stefan Stoll
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany
- Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, University of Applied Sciences Trier, 55761, Birkenfeld, Germany
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31
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Rico A, Van den Brink PJ, Leitner P, Graf W, Focks A. Relative influence of chemical and non-chemical stressors on invertebrate communities: a case study in the Danube River. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2016; 571:1370-82. [PMID: 27450262 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2016] [Revised: 07/12/2016] [Accepted: 07/13/2016] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
A key challenge for the ecological risk assessment of chemicals has been to evaluate the relative contribution of chemical pollution to the variability observed in biological communities, as well as to identify multiple stressor groups. In this study we evaluated the toxic pressure exerted by >200 contaminants to benthic macroinvertebrates in the Danube River using the Toxic Unit approach. Furthermore, we evaluated correlations between several stressors (chemical and non-chemical) and biological indices commonly used for the ecological status assessment of aquatic ecosystems. We also performed several variation partitioning analyses to evaluate the relative contribution of contaminants and other abiotic parameters (i.e. habitat characteristics, hydromorphological alterations, water quality parameters) to the structural and biological trait variation of the invertebrate community. The results of this study show that most biological indices significantly correlate to parameters related to habitat and physico-chemical conditions, but showed limited correlation with the calculated toxic pressure. The calculated toxic pressure, however, showed little variation between sampling sites, which complicates the identification of pollution-induced effects. The results of this study show that the variation in the structure and trait composition of the invertebrate community are mainly explained by habitat and water quality parameters, whereas hydromorphological alterations play a less important role. Among the water quality parameters, physico-chemical parameters such as suspended solids, nutrients or dissolved oxygen explained a larger part of the variation in the invertebrate community as compared to metals or organic contaminants. Significant correlations exist between some physico-chemical measurements (e.g. nutrients) and some chemical classes (i.e. pharmaceuticals, chemicals related to human presence) which constitute important multiple stressor groups. This study demonstrates that, in large rivers like the Danube, the variation in the invertebrate community seems to be more related to varying habitat and physico-chemical conditions than to chemical pollution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreu Rico
- IMDEA Water Institute, Science and Technology Campus of the University of Alcalá, Avenida Punto Com 2, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Paul J Van den Brink
- Alterra, Wageningen University and Research centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands; Department of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen University, Wageningen University and Research centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Patrick Leitner
- Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, BOKU, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Wolfram Graf
- Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, BOKU, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Andreas Focks
- Alterra, Wageningen University and Research centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
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32
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Ieromina O, Musters CJM, Bodegom PM, Peijnenburg WJGM, Vijver MG. Trait modality distribution of aquatic macrofauna communities as explained by pesticides and water chemistry. ECOTOXICOLOGY (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2016; 25:1170-1180. [PMID: 27209569 PMCID: PMC4921112 DOI: 10.1007/s10646-016-1671-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/07/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Analyzing functional species' characteristics (species traits) that represent physiological, life history and morphological characteristics of species help understanding the impacts of various stressors on aquatic communities at field conditions. This research aimed to study the combined effects of pesticides and other environmental factors (temperature, dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon, floating macrophytes cover, phosphate, nitrite, and nitrate) on the trait modality distribution of aquatic macrofauna communities. To this purpose, a field inventory was performed in a flower bulb growing area of the Netherlands with significant variation in pesticides pressures. Macrofauna community composition, water chemistry parameters and pesticide concentrations in ditches next to flower bulb fields were determined. Trait modalities of nine traits (feeding mode, respiration mode, locomotion type, resistance form, reproduction mode, life stage, voltinism, saprobity, maximum body size) likely to indicate pesticides impacts were analyzed. According to a redundancy analysis, phosphate -and not pesticides- constituted the main factor structuring the trait modality distribution of aquatic macrofauna. The functional composition could be ascribed for 2-4 % to pesticides, and for 3-11 % to phosphate. The lack of trait responses to pesticides may indicate that species may have used alternative strategies to adapt to ambient pesticides stress. Biomass of animals exhibiting trait modalities related to feeding by predation and grazing, presence of diapause form or dormancy, reproduction by free clutches and ovoviviparity, life stage of larvae and pupa, was negatively correlated to the concentration of phosphate. Hence, despite the high pesticide pollution in the area, variation in nutrient-related stressors seems to be the dominant driver of the functional composition of aquatic macrofauna assembly in agricultural ditches.
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Affiliation(s)
- O Ieromina
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300, Leiden, RA, The Netherlands.
| | - C J M Musters
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300, Leiden, RA, The Netherlands
| | - P M Bodegom
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300, Leiden, RA, The Netherlands
| | - W J G M Peijnenburg
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300, Leiden, RA, The Netherlands
- National Institute for Public Health and Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720, Bilthoven, BA, The Netherlands
| | - M G Vijver
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300, Leiden, RA, The Netherlands
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Schnier S, Cai X, Cao Y. Importance of Natural and Anthropogenic Environmental Factors to Fish Communities of the Fox River in Illinois. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2016; 57:389-411. [PMID: 26404430 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-015-0611-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2015] [Accepted: 09/10/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The dominant environmental determinants of aquatic communities have been a persistent topic for many years. Interactions between natural and anthropogenic characteristics within the aquatic environment influence fish communities in complex ways that make the effect of a single characteristic difficult to ascertain. Researchers are faced with the question of how to deal with a large number of variables and complex interrelationships. This study utilized multiple approaches to identify key environmental variables to fish communities of the Fox River Basin in Illinois: Pearson and Spearman correlations, an algorithm based on information theory called mutual information, and a measure of variable importance built into the machine learning algorithm Random Forest. The results are based on a dataset developed for this study, which uses a fish index of biological integrity (IBI) and its ten component metrics as response variables and a range of environmental variables describing geomorphology, stream flow statistics, climate, and both reach-scale and watershed-scale land use as independent variables. Agricultural land use and the magnitude and duration of low flow events were ranked by the algorithms as key factors for the study area. Reach-scale characteristics were dominant for native sunfish, and stream flow metrics were rated highly for native suckers. Regression tree analyses of environmental variables on fish IBI identified breakpoints in percent agricultural land in the watershed (~64%), duration of low flow pulses (~12 days), and 90-day minimum flow (~0.13 cms). The findings should be useful for building predictive models and design of more effective monitoring systems and restoration plans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Spencer Schnier
- Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Ximing Cai
- Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA.
| | - Yong Cao
- Illinois State History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
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Bayona Y, Roucaute M, Cailleaud K, Lagadic L, Bassères A, Caquet T. Effect of thiram and of a hydrocarbon mixture on freshwater macroinvertebrate communities in outdoor stream and pond mesocosms: II. Biological and ecological trait responses and leaf litter breakdown. ECOTOXICOLOGY (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2015; 24:1933-1946. [PMID: 26311171 DOI: 10.1007/s10646-015-1531-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/20/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Higher-tier ecological risk assessment of chemicals often relies upon studies in dynamic and/or static mesocosms. Physico-chemical and hydrological properties of each type of mesocosm result in specific chemicals fate, community functioning, and potential recovery. In the present study, macroinvertebrate abundance- and biomass-weighted biological and ecological trait matrices were used to assess the effects of a dithiocarbamate fungicide, thiram (35 and 170 µg l(-1)), and of a petroleum middle distillate (0.01, 0.4, 2 and 20 mg l(-1)) in outdoor stream and pond mesocosms. Trait sensitivity was characterized using functional diversity indices and trait modality distributions to assess the influence of the type of experimental systems and the ability of traits to disentangle chemical-induced effects from temporal and stochastic variations. In addition, leaf litter breakdown was used as an integrative functional endpoint. Regardless to the substance, treatments had a direct effect on the functional structure of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in streams but not in ponds, suggesting that global functional responses to chemicals are system-specific. Although both substances had an effect in streams, differences were noticed in the nature of the affected traits suggesting that chemical mode of action plays a role in functional alterations. This was illustrated by the link between negative effects of chemical exposure on detritivorous taxa and reduced litter breakdown rate in streams. Therefore, characterisation of macroinvertebrate biological traits associated with the measurement of a functional process such as litter breakdown may provide a comprehensive understanding of the effects occurring in mesocosms exposed to organic chemicals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yannick Bayona
- INRA, UMR985 Écologie et Santé des Écosystèmes, Équipe Écotoxicologie et Qualité des Milieux Aquatiques, Agrocampus Ouest, 65 rue de Saint Brieuc, CS 84215, 35042, Rennes, France.
- Service Environnement, TOTAL, Pôle d'Etude et de Recherche de Lacq RN 117, BP 47, 64170, Lacq, France.
| | - Marc Roucaute
- INRA, UMR985 Écologie et Santé des Écosystèmes, Équipe Écotoxicologie et Qualité des Milieux Aquatiques, Agrocampus Ouest, 65 rue de Saint Brieuc, CS 84215, 35042, Rennes, France
| | - Kevin Cailleaud
- Service Environnement, TOTAL, Pôle d'Etude et de Recherche de Lacq RN 117, BP 47, 64170, Lacq, France
| | - Laurent Lagadic
- INRA, UMR985 Écologie et Santé des Écosystèmes, Équipe Écotoxicologie et Qualité des Milieux Aquatiques, Agrocampus Ouest, 65 rue de Saint Brieuc, CS 84215, 35042, Rennes, France
| | - Anne Bassères
- Service Environnement, TOTAL, Pôle d'Etude et de Recherche de Lacq RN 117, BP 47, 64170, Lacq, France
| | - Thierry Caquet
- INRA, UMR985 Écologie et Santé des Écosystèmes, Équipe Écotoxicologie et Qualité des Milieux Aquatiques, Agrocampus Ouest, 65 rue de Saint Brieuc, CS 84215, 35042, Rennes, France
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Aazami J, Esmaili Sari A, Abdoli A, Sohrabi H, Van den Brink PJ. Assessment of ecological quality of the Tajan River in Iran using a multimetric macroinvertebrate index and species traits. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2015; 56:260-269. [PMID: 25861910 PMCID: PMC4451864 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-015-0489-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2014] [Accepted: 03/30/2015] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
The objectives of this study were to assess the biological water of the Iranian Tajan River using different metrics, i.e., a Multimetric Macroinvertebrate Index (MMI) and a traits-based method. Twenty-eight physico-chemical parameters, 10 habitat factors, and abundance of macroinvertebrates were obtained for 17 sites. The Shahid-Rajaie dam divides the Tajan River into an up- and downstream part, with different land uses. Eighteen metrics were used to represent four components of ecosystem quality, including tolerance (Hilsenhoff, SIGNAL), diversity (Margalef, Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, and Evenness), abundance (total number of taxa, individuals, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, EPT, and Insects), and composition of assemblages (% Ephemeroptera, % Plecoptera, % Trichoptera, and % EPT Taxa). The integrated MMI was calculated by averaging the obtained scores of all indices. In the next step, we gathered information on 22 biological traits of macroinvertebrates to evaluate whether (group of) traits could be identified that are indicative for specific or general stress. Result showed a decrease in MMI from upstream (very good water quality) to downstream (bad) due to human activities. Industrial activities like pulping and papermaking operations or sand mining in the downstream part had more effects than agriculture and fish ponds in the upstream part. A redundancy analysis biplot showed the variation between the modalities of trait of macroinvertebrates and their correlation with physico-chemical parameters in Tajan River. The findings show that traits can be indicative for different kind of stress but that more effort has to be put in gathering data sets to disentangle the effect of habitat quality, pollution, and the physico-chemical properties of high- versus lowland rivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaber Aazami
- />Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Abbas Esmaili Sari
- />Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Asghar Abdoli
- />Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hormoz Sohrabi
- />Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Paul J. Van den Brink
- />Department of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen University, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- />Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Rolls RJ, Sternberg D. Can species traits predict the susceptibility of riverine fish to water resource development? An Australian case study. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2015; 55:1315-1326. [PMID: 25840696 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-015-0462-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2014] [Accepted: 03/21/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Water resource developments alter riverine environments by disrupting longitudinal connectivity, transforming lotic habitats, and modifying in-stream hydraulic conditions. Effective management of anthropogenic disturbances therefore requires an understanding of the range of potential ecosystem effects and the inherent traits symptomatic of elevated vulnerability to disturbance. Using 42 riverine fish native to South Eastern Australia as a case study, we quantified six morphological, behavioral, and life-history traits to classify species into groups reflecting potential differences in their response to ecosystem changes as a result of water resource development. Classification analysis identified five strategies based on fish life-history dispersal requirements, climbing potential, and habitat preference. These strategies in turn highlight the potential species at risk from the separate impacts of water resource development and inform management decisions to mitigate those risks. Swimming ability did not contribute to distinguishing species into functional groups, likely due to methodological inconsistencies in quantifying swimming performance that may ultimately hinder the ability of fish passage facilities to function within the physical capabilities of species at risk of habitat fragmentation. This study improves our ability to predict the performance of groups of species at risk from the multiple environmental changes imposed by humans and goes beyond broad-scale dispersal requirements as a predictor of individual species response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert J Rolls
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, 4111, Australia,
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Wood RJ, Mitrovic SM, Kefford BJ. Determining the relative sensitivity of benthic diatoms to atrazine using rapid toxicity testing: a novel method. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2014; 485-486:421-427. [PMID: 24742551 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.03.115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2014] [Revised: 03/24/2014] [Accepted: 03/25/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Herbicides pose a potential threat to aquatic ecosystems, especially to phototrophic organisms such as benthic diatoms. Benthic diatoms may be a valuable indicator of the toxic impacts of herbicides in aquatic systems. However, this requires information on the herbicide sensitivity of a wide range of freshwater benthic diatom taxa. Unfortunately this information is only available for a limited number of species as current methods of developing new algae toxicity tests on individual taxa are lengthy and costly. To address this issue, we developed a new rapid toxicity test method to test natural benthic communities, from which the relative herbicide sensitivity of many individual taxa can be derived. This involved the collection of natural benthic communities from rocks in situ, which were placed directly into laboratory toxicity tests. Sensitivity data for several diatom genera in a 48 hour exposure toxicity test were produced, without the need for cultures or multiple site visits. After exposure to the highest treatment of atrazine (500 μg L(-1)) there were significant declines of healthy cells in the most sensitive genera: Gomphonema declined by 74%, Amphora by 62%, Cymbella by 54% and Ulnaria by 34% compared to control levels. In contrast, the genera, Eunotia, Achnanthidium and Navicula, had no statistically significant decline in cell health. This method can identify the diatom taxa most at risk of herbicide toxicity within the natural benthic diatom community. The rapid toxicity testing method presented is a simple and effective method to obtain sensitivity data for multiple taxa within a natural benthic diatom community in a relatively short period of time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca J Wood
- Centre for Environmental Sustainability, School of the Environment, University of Technology, PO Box 123, Broadway 2007, New South Wales, Australia.
| | - Simon M Mitrovic
- Centre for Environmental Sustainability, School of the Environment, University of Technology, PO Box 123, Broadway 2007, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ben J Kefford
- Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
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Szöcs E, Coring E, Bäthe J, Schäfer RB. Effects of anthropogenic salinization on biological traits and community composition of stream macroinvertebrates. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2014; 468-469:943-949. [PMID: 24080419 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.08.058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2013] [Revised: 08/06/2013] [Accepted: 08/19/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Salinization of rivers resulting from industrial discharge or road-deicing can adversely affect macroinvertebrates. Trait-based approaches are a promising tool in ecological monitoring and may perform better than taxonomy-based approaches. However only little is known how and which biological traits are affected by salinization. We investigated the effects of anthropogenic salinization on macroinvertebrate communities and biological traits in the Werra River, Germany and compared the taxonomic and trait response. We found a change in macroinvertebrate community and trait composition. Communities at saline sites were characterized by the three exotic species Gammarus tigrinus, Apocorophium lacustre and Potamopyrgus antipodarum. The frequencies of trait modalities long life cycle duration, respiration by gill, ovoviviparity, shredder and multivoltinism were statistically significantly increased at saline sites. The trait-based ordination resulted in a higher explained variance than the taxonomy-based ordination, indicating a better performance of the trait-based approach, resulting in a better discrimination between saline and non-saline sites. Our results are in general agreement with other studies from Europe, indicating a trait convergence for saline streams, being dominated by the traits ovoviviparity and multivoltinism. Three further traits (respiration by gill, life cycle duration and shredders) responded strongly to salinization, but this may primarily be attributed to the dominance of a single invasive species, G. tigrinus, at the saline sites in the Werra River.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduard Szöcs
- Institute for Environmental Sciences, University Koblenz-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau, Germany.
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Mondy CP, Usseglio-Polatera P. Using conditional tree forests and life history traits to assess specific risks of stream degradation under multiple pressure scenario. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2013; 461-462:750-760. [PMID: 23774251 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.05.072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2012] [Revised: 05/15/2013] [Accepted: 05/22/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The full accomplishment of the European Water Framework Directive objectives has required from EU members three successive steps: (i) the evaluation of their water body ecological status, (ii) the risk assessment of different anthropogenic pressure categories and (iii) the implementation of appropriate management and restoration programs. We aimed at designing an innovative retrospective ecological risk assessment (ERA) tool working for most of the French wadeable rivers in a context of multiple anthropogenic pressures (step ii). This tool, including conditional tree forest (CTF) models, was built on combinations of benthic macroinvertebrate trait-based metrics for each of sixteen anthropogenic pressure categories. For eleven pressure categories, CTF models have given good impairment risk assessment (i.e. AUC≥0.70), even at moderate risk level and in a multi-pressure context. The four other models have provided poorer but promising results (AUC=0.67±0.02). Identifying the potential weight of individual anthropogenic pressures that lead to biotic assemblage impairment in streams under multiple pressure scenario, is a key step for managers to implement appropriate stream restoration programs. Simultaneously considering the whole complexity of bio-ecological adaptations within biotic assemblages subjected to human pressures provides a functional diagnostic tool both (i) ecologically relevant and (ii) efficient for ERA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cédric P Mondy
- Eawag-Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
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Van den Brink PJ, Baird DJ, Baveco HJM, Focks A. The use of traits-based approaches and eco(toxico)logical models to advance the ecological risk assessment framework for chemicals. INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT 2013; 9:e47-e57. [PMID: 23625553 DOI: 10.1002/ieam.1443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2013] [Revised: 03/15/2013] [Accepted: 04/22/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
This article presents a framework to diagnose and predict the effects of chemicals, integrating 2 promising tools to incorporate more ecology into ecological risk assessment, namely traits-based approaches and ecological modeling. Traits-based approaches are used increasingly to derive correlations between the occurrence of species traits and chemical exposure from biological and chemical monitoring data. This assessment can also be used in a diagnostic way, i.e., to identify the chemicals probably posing the highest risks to the aquatic ecosystems. The article also describes how ecological models can be used to explore how traits govern the species-substance interactions and to predict effects at the individual, population, and community and ecosystem level, i.e., from the receptor to the landscape level. This can be done by developing models describing the toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics of the chemical in the individual, the life-history of species and the connectivity of populations, determining their recovery, and the food web relations at the community and ecosystem level that determine the indirect effects. Special attention is given on how spatial aspects can be included in the ecological risk assessments using ecological models. The components of the framework are introduced and critically discussed. We describe how the different tools and data generated through experimentation (laboratory and semifield) and biomonitoring can be integrated. The article uses examples from the aquatic compartment, but the concepts that are used, and their integration within the framework, can be generalized to other environmental compartments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J Van den Brink
- Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
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Rubach MN, Baird DJ, Boerwinkel MC, Maund SJ, Roessink I, Van den Brink PJ. Species traits as predictors for intrinsic sensitivity of aquatic invertebrates to the insecticide chlorpyrifos. ECOTOXICOLOGY (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2012; 21:2088-101. [PMID: 22711550 PMCID: PMC3431471 DOI: 10.1007/s10646-012-0962-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/05/2012] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Ecological risk assessment (ERA) has followed a taxonomy-based approach, making the assumption that related species will show similar sensitivity to toxicants, and using safety factors or species sensitivity distributions to extrapolate from tested to untested species. In ecology it has become apparent that taxonomic approaches may have limitations for the description and understanding of species assemblages in nature. Therefore it has been proposed that the inclusion of species traits in ERA could provide a useful and alternative description of the systems under investigation. At the same time, there is a growing recognition that the use of mechanistic approaches in ERA, including conceptual and quantitative models, may improve predictive and extrapolative power. Purposefully linking traits with mechanistic effect models could add value to taxonomy-based ERA by improving our understanding of how structural and functional system facets may facilitate inter-species extrapolation. Here, we explore whether and in what ways traits can be linked purposefully to mechanistic effect models to predict intrinsic sensitivity using available data on the acute sensitivity and toxicokinetics of a range of freshwater arthropods exposed to chlorpyrifos. The results of a quantitative linking of seven different endpoints and twelve traits demonstrate that while quantitative links between traits and/or trait combinations and process based (toxicokinetic) model parameters can be established, the use of simple traits to predict classical sensitivity endpoints yields little insight. Remarkably, neither of the standard sensitivity values, i.e. the LC(50) or EC(50), showed a strong correlation with traits. Future research in this area should include a quantitative linking of toxicodynamic parameter estimations and physiological traits, and requires further consideration of how mechanistic trait-process/parameter links can be used for prediction of intrinsic sensitivity across species for different substances in ERA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mascha N. Rubach
- Department of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Syngenta Crop Protection AG, 4002 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Donald J. Baird
- Environment Canada@Canadian Rivers Institute, Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB Canada
| | - Marie-Claire Boerwinkel
- Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Ivo Roessink
- Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Paul J. Van den Brink
- Department of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Van den Brink PJ, Alexander AC, Desrosiers M, Goedkoop W, Goethals PLM, Liess M, Dyer SD. Traits-based approaches in bioassessment and ecological risk assessment: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT 2011; 7:198-208. [PMID: 20981837 DOI: 10.1002/ieam.109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2010] [Revised: 05/19/2010] [Accepted: 06/28/2010] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
We discuss the application of traits-based bioassessment approaches in retrospective bioassessment as well as in prospective ecological risk assessments in regulatory frameworks. Both approaches address the interaction between species and stressors and their consequences at different levels of biological organization, but the fact that a specific species may be less abundant in a potentially impacted site compared with a reference site is, regrettably, insufficient to provide diagnostic information. Species traits may, however, overcome the problems associated with taxonomy-based bioassessment. Trait-based approaches could provide signals regarding what environmental factors may be responsible for the impairment and, thereby, provide causal insight into the interaction between species and stressors. For development of traits-based (TBA), traits should correspond to specific types of stressors or suites of stressors. In this paper, a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis of TBA in both applications was used to identify challenges and potentials. This paper is part of a series describing the output of the TERA (Traits-based ecological risk assessment: Realising the potential of ecoinformatics approaches in ecotoxicology) Workshop held between 7 and 11 September, 2009, in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. The recognized strengths were that traits are transferrable across geographies, add mechanistic and diagnostic knowledge, require no new sampling methodology, have an old tradition, and can supplement taxonomic analysis. Weaknesses include autocorrelation, redundancy, and inability to protect biodiversity directly. Automated image analysis, combined with genetic and biotechnology tools and improved data analysis to solve autocorrelation problems were identified as opportunities, whereas low availability of trait data, their transferability, their quantitative interpretation, the risk of developing nonrelevant traits, low quality of historic databases, and their standardization were listed as threats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J Van den Brink
- Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
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