Local physical habitat quality cloud the effect of predicted pesticide runoff from agricultural land in Danish streams

Can SPEcies At Risk of pesticides (SPEAR) indices detect effects of target stressors among multiple interacting stressors?

Pesticides are increasingly recognised as a threat to freshwater biodiversity, but their specific ecological effects remain difficult to distinguish from those of co-occurring stressors and environmental gradients. Using mesocosms we examined the effects of an organophosphate insecticide (malathion) on stream macroinvertebrate communities concurrently exposed to a suite of stressors typical of streams in agricultural catchments. We assessed the specificity of the SPEcies At Risk index designed to determine pesticide effects in mesocosm trials (SPEAR_mesocosm). This index determines the log abundance proportion of taxa that are considered physiologically sensitive to pesticides. Geographic variation in pesticide sensitivity within taxa, coupled with variation between pesticides and the effects of co-occurring stressors may decrease the accuracy of SPEAR_mesocosm. To examine this, we used local pesticide sensitivity assessments based on rapid toxicity tests to develop two new SPEAR versions to compare to the original SPEAR_mesocosms index using mesocosm results. We further compared these results to multivariate analyses and community indices (e.g. richness, abundance, Simpson's diversity) commonly used to assess stressor effects on biota. To assess the implications of misclassifying species sensitivity on SPEAR indices we used a series of simulations using artificial data. The impacts of malathion were detectable using SPEAR_mesocosm, and one of two new SPEAR indices. All three of the SPEAR indices also increased when exposed to other agricultural non-pesticide stressors, and this change increased with greater pesticide concentrations. Our results support that interactions between other non-pesticide stressors with pesticides can affect SPEAR performance. Multivariate analysis and the other indices used here identified a significant effect of malathion especially at high concentrations, with little or no evidence of effects from the other agricultural stressors.

Common insecticide disrupts aquatic communities: A mesocosm-to-field ecological risk assessment of fipronil and its degradates in U.S. streams

Insecticides in streams are increasingly a global concern, yet information on safe concentrations for aquatic ecosystems is sparse. In a 30-day mesocosm experiment exposing native benthic aquatic invertebrates to the common insecticide fipronil and four degradates, fipronil compounds caused altered emergence and trophic cascades. Effect concentrations eliciting a 50% response (EC50) were developed for fipronil and its sulfide, sulfone, and desulfinyl degradates; taxa were insensitive to fipronil amide. Hazard concentrations for 5% of affected species derived from up to 15 mesocosm EC50 values were used to convert fipronil compound concentrations in field samples to the sum of toxic units (∑TUFipronils). Mean ∑TUFipronils exceeded 1 (indicating toxicity) in 16% of streams sampled from five regional studies. The Species at Risk invertebrate metric was negatively associated with ∑TUFipronils in four of five regions sampled. This ecological risk assessment indicates that low concentrations of fipronil compounds degrade stream communities in multiple regions of the United States.

Linking ecological health to co-occurring organic and inorganic chemical stressors in a groundwater-fed stream system

Freshwaters are among the most endangered ecosystems worldwide, due predominantly to excessive anthropogenic practices compromising the future provisioning of ecosystem services. Despite increased awareness of the role of multiple stressors in accounting for ecological degradation in mixed land-use stream systems, risk assessment approaches applicable in field settings are still required. This study provides a first indication for ecological consequences of the interaction of organic and inorganic chemical stressors, not typically evaluated together, which may provide a missing link enabling the reconnection of chemical and ecological findings. Specifically, impaired ecological conditions - represented by lower abundance of meiobenthic individuals - were observed in the hyporheic zone where a contaminant groundwater plume discharged to the stream. These zones were characterized by high xenobiotic organic concentrations, and strongly reduced groundwater (e.g. elevated dissolved iron and arsenic) linked to the dissolution of iron hydroxides (iron reduction) caused by the degradation of xenobiotic compounds in the plume. Further research is still needed to separate whether impact is driven by a combined effect of organic and inorganic stressors impacting the ecological communities, or whether the conditions - when present simultaneously - are responsible for enabling a specific chemical stressor's availability (e.g. trace metals), and thus toxicity, along the study stream. Regardless, these findings suggest that benthic meioinvertebrates are promising indicators for supporting biological assessments of stream systems to sufficiently represent impacts resulting from the co-occurrence of stressors in different stream compartments. Importantly, identification of the governing circumstances is crucial for revealing key patterns and impact drivers that may be needed in correctly prioritizing stressor impacts in these systems. This study further highlights the importance of stream-aquifer interfaces for investigating chemical stressor effects in multiple stressor systems. This will require holistic approaches for linking contaminant hydrogeology and eco(toxico)logy in order to positively influence the sustainable management of water resources globally.

Headwater streams in the EU Water Framework Directive: Evidence-based decision support to select streams for river basin management plans

Headwater streams are important contributors to aquatic biodiversity and may counteract negative impacts of anthropogenic stress on downstream reaches. In Denmark, the first river basin management plan (RBMP) included streams of all size categories, most being <2.5m wide (headwater streams). Currently, however, it is intensely debated whether the small size and low slopes, typical of Danish streams, in combination with degraded habitat conditions obstruct their ability to fulfill the ecological quality objectives required by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The purpose of this study was to provide an analytically based framework for guiding the selection of headwater streams for RBMP. Specifically, the following hypotheses were addressed: i) stream slope, width, planform, and general physical habitat quality can act as criteria for selecting streams for the next generation of RBMPs, and ii) probability-based thresholds for reaching good ecological status can be established for some or all of these criteria, thus creating a sound, scientifically based, and clear selection process. The hypotheses were tested using monitoring data on Danish streams from the period 2004-2015. Significant linear relationships were obtained between the ecological quality ratio assessed by applying the Danish Stream Fauna Index (DSFI_EQR) and stream slope, width, sinuosity, and DHI. The obtained models were used to produce pressure-response curves describing the probability of achieving good ecological status along gradients in these parameters. Next, threshold values for slope, width, sinuosity, and DHI were identified for selected probabilities of achieving minimum good ecological status. The obtained results can support managers and policy makers in prioritizing headwater streams for the 3rd RBMP. The approach applied is broadly applicable and can, for instance, help prioritization of restoration and conservation efforts in different types of ecosystems where the biota can be significantly linked to separate and quantifiable environmental characteristics.

Chlorpyrifos interacts with other agricultural stressors to alter stream communities in laboratory microcosms

Chlorpyrifos is one of the most widely used agricultural insecticides in the world, but to date there is limited empirical information about its potential to interact with other common agricultural stressors. We conducted a 15-d, community-level, microcosm experiment evaluating individual and combined effects of chlorpyrifos, nutrient enrichment, and sedimentation on stream invertebrate communities (abundance, biomass, richness, size structure, composition) and ecosystem processes (primary productivity and leaf decomposition). We found that sedimentation was the most detrimental stressor, with significant negative impacts on most invertebrate community and ecosystem function variables. Even though chlorpyrifos did not cause significant invertebrate mortality in the microcosms, it still altered ecosystem function by lowering leaf decomposition rates, probably through sublethal inhibition of invertebrate shredders. Furthermore, we observed a significant reversal interaction between chlorpyrifos and sediment for small-sized invertebrates collected in gravel (abundance in sediment × insecticide microcosms was 2.4 times lower than predicted by additivity), as well as an antagonistic interaction with nutrients on invertebrate richness in the same microhabitat (richness in nutrient × insecticide microcosms was 1.6 times higher than predicted by additivity). Our results suggest that chlorpyrifos has the potential to alter freshwater ecosystem function and interact non-additively with other common agricultural stressors. These findings are in keeping with a growing body of research highlighting that multiple stressor interactions and ecosystem processes should be considered when evaluating the impacts of organic toxicants on freshwater ecosystems.

Do Riparian Buffers Protect Stream Invertebrate Communities in South American Atlantic Forest Agricultural Areas?

We investigated the influence and relative importance of insecticides and other agricultural stressors in determining variability in invertebrate communities in small streams in intensive soy-production regions of Brazil and Paraguay. In Paraguay we sampled 17 sites on tributaries of the Pirapó River in the state of Itapúa and in Brazil we sampled 18 sites on tributaries of the San Francisco River in the state of Paraná. The riparian buffer zones generally contained native Atlantic forest remnants and/or introduced tree species at various stages of growth. In Brazil the stream buffer width was negatively correlated with sediment insecticide concentrations and buffer width was found to have moderate importance in mitigating effects on some sensitive taxa such as mayflies. However, in both regions insecticides had low relative importance in explaining variability in invertebrate communities, while various habitat parameters were more important. In Brazil, the percent coverage of soft depositional sediment in streams was the most important agriculture-related explanatory variable, and the overall stream-habitat score was the most important variable in Paraguay streams. Paraguay and Brazil both have laws requiring forested riparian buffers. The ample forested riparian buffer zones typical of streams in these regions are likely to have mitigated the effects of pesticides on stream invertebrate communities. This study provides evidence that riparian buffer regulations in the Atlantic Forest region are protecting stream ecosystems from pesticides and other agricultural stressors. Further studies are needed to determine the minimum buffer widths necessary to achieve optimal protection.

Sensitivity ranking for freshwater invertebrates towards hydrocarbon contaminants

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.

Climate-change influences on the response of macroinvertebrate communities to pesticide contamination in the Sacramento River, California watershed

Limited studies have addressed how future climate-change scenarios may alter the effects of pesticides on biotic assemblages or the effects of exposures to repeated pulses of pesticide mixtures. We used reported pesticide-use data as input to a hydrological fate and transport model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) under multiple climate-change scenarios to simulate spatiotemporal dynamics of pesticides mixtures in streams on a daily time-step in the Sacramento River watershed of California. We predicted that there will be increased pesticide application with warming across the watershed, especially in upstream areas. Using a statistical model describing the relationship between macroinvertebrate communities and pesticide dynamics, we found that compared to the baseline period of 1970-1999: (1) most climate-change scenarios predicted increased rainfall and warming across the watershed during 2070-2099; and (2) increasing pesticide contamination and increased impact on macroinvertebrates will likely occur in most areas of the watershed by 2070-2099; and (3) lower increases in effects of pesticides on macroinvertebrates were predicted for the downstream areas with intensive agriculture compared to some upstream areas with less-intensive agriculture. Future efforts on practical adaptation and mitigation strategies can be improved by awareness of altered threats of pesticide mixtures under future climate-change conditions.

Species at Risk (SPEAR) index indicates effects of insecticides on stream invertebrate communities in soy production regions of the Argentine Pampas

We investigated relationships among insecticides and aquatic invertebrate communities in 22 streams of two soy production regions of the Argentine Pampas over three growing seasons. Chlorpyrifos, endosulfan, cypermethrin, and lambda-cyhalothrin were the insecticides most frequently detected in stream sediments. The Species at Risk (SPEAR) pesticide bioassessment index (SPEARpesticides) was adapted and applied to evaluate relationships between sediment insecticide toxic units (TUs) and invertebrate communities associated with both benthic habitats and emergent vegetation habitats. SPEARpesticides was the only response metric that was significantly correlated with total insecticide TU values for all three averaged data sets, consistently showing a trend of decreasing values with increasing TU values (r2=0.35 to 0.42, p-value=0.001 to 0.03). Although pyrethroids were the insecticides that contributed the highest TU values, toxicity calculated based on all insecticides was better at predicting changes in invertebrate communities than toxicity of pyrethroids alone. Crustaceans, particularly the amphipod Hyalella spp., which are relatively sensitive to pesticides, played a large role in the performance of SPEARpesticides, and the relative abundance of all crustaceans also showed a significant decreasing trend with increasing insecticide TUs for two of three data sets (r2=0.30 to 0.57, p-value=0.003 to 0.04) examined. For all data sets, total insecticide TU was the most important variable in explaining variance in the SPEARpesticides index. The present study was the first application of the SPEAR index in South America, and the first one to use it to evaluate effects of pesticides on invertebrate communities associated with aquatic vegetation. Although the SPEAR index was developed in Europe, it performed well in the Argentine Pampas with only minor modifications, and would likely improve in performance as more data are obtained on traits of South American taxa, such as pesticide sensitivity and generation time.

Response of macroinvertebrate communities to temporal dynamics of pesticide mixtures: A case study from the Sacramento River watershed, California

Pesticide pollution from agricultural field run-off or spray drift has been documented to impact river ecosystems worldwide. However, there is limited data on short- and long-term effects of repeated pulses of pesticide mixtures on biotic assemblages in natural systems. We used reported pesticide application data as input to a hydrological fate and transport model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) to simulate spatiotemporal dynamics of pesticides mixtures in streams on a daily time-step. We then applied regression models to explore the relationship between macroinvertebrate communities and pesticide dynamics in the Sacramento River watershed of California during 2002-2013. We found that both maximum and average pesticide toxic units were important in determining impacts on macroinvertebrates, and that the compositions of macroinvertebrates trended toward taxa having higher resilience and resistance to pesticide exposure, based on the Species at Risk pesticide (SPEAR_pesticides) index. Results indicate that risk-assessment efforts can be improved by considering both short- and long-term effects of pesticide mixtures on macroinvertebrate community composition.

Mitigation of polar pesticides across a vegetative filter strip. A mesocosm study

Vegetated filter strips (VFSs) are planted at the edge of agricultural fields to reduce pesticide run-off and its consequent potential toxicological effects on ecosystem biota; however, little attention has been paid to date to the attenuation of highly polar and ionisable pesticides such as phenoxyacid herbicides. This study assesses the effect of soil moisture, run-off flow and vegetation on the attenuation of MCPA, mecoprop, dicamba, dichlorprop, fenitrothion, atrazine and simazine by VFSs. Reactors measuring 5 m long by 0.1 m wide were each filled with 60 kg of soil from a real field VFS. VFSs planted with Phragmites australis and unvegetated control reactors were assessed. After a simulated rainfall event of 50 mm, two hydraulic loading rates (HLRs) were assessed (1 and 2 cm h^-1). These results were compared to those from the same systems under water-saturated conditions. The results show that VFSs reduced the peak inlet concentration and pesticide mass by more than 90 % and that the presence of vegetation increased that attenuation (82-90 % without vegetation and 90-93 % with vegetation, on average). The laboratory-scale study showed that such attenuation was due to sorption into the soil. The toxicity units of pesticides fell by more than 90 % in all cases, except under the water-saturated conditions, in which the decrease was lower (16 vs 54 %, for unvegetated and vegetated reactors). Therefore, the presence of vegetation was shown to be effective for reducing mass discharge of ionisable and highly polar pesticides into surface-water bodies.

Legacy of a Chemical Factory Site: Contaminated Groundwater Impacts Stream Macroinvertebrates

Legislative and managing entities of EU member states face a comprehensive task because the chemical and ecological impacts of contaminated sites on surface waters must be assessed. The ecological assessment is further complicated by the low availability or, in some cases, absence of ecotoxicity data for many of the compounds occurring at contaminated sites. We studied the potential impact of a contaminated site, characterised by chlorinated solvents, sulfonamides, and barbiturates, on benthic macroinvertebrates in a receiving stream. Most of these compounds are characterised by low or unknown ecotoxicity, but they are continuously discharged into the stream by way of a long-lasting source generating long-term chronic exposure of the stream biota. Our results show that taxonomical density and diversity of especially sediment dwelling taxa were reduced by >50 % at the sampling sites situated in the primary inflow zone of the contaminated GW. Moreover, macroinvertebrate communities at these sampling sites could be distinguished from those at upstream control sites and sites situated along a downstream dilution gradient using multidimensional scaling. Importantly, macroinvertebrate indices currently used did not identify this impairment, thus underpinning an urgent need for developing suitable tools for the assessment of ecological effects of contaminated sites in streams.

Pesticides reduce regional biodiversity of stream invertebrates

The biodiversity crisis is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, but our understanding of the drivers remains limited. Thus, after decades of studies and regulation efforts, it remains unknown whether to what degree and at what concentrations modern agricultural pesticides cause regional-scale species losses. We analyzed the effects of pesticides on the regional taxa richness of stream invertebrates in Europe (Germany and France) and Australia (southern Victoria). Pesticides caused statistically significant effects on both the species and family richness in both regions, with losses in taxa up to 42% of the recorded taxonomic pools. Furthermore, the effects in Europe were detected at concentrations that current legislation considers environmentally protective. Thus, the current ecological risk assessment of pesticides falls short of protecting biodiversity, and new approaches linking ecology and ecotoxicology are needed.

Effects of organic pollutants from wastewater treatment plants on aquatic invertebrate communities

Pesticides are a major stressor for stream ecosystem health. They enter surface waters from diffuse agricultural sources but also from point sources such as municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, to date, no studies have focused on the ecological effects of pesticide-contaminated WWTP effluent on macroinvertebrate communities. On the basis of governmental monitoring data of 328 sites in Hesse, Germany, we identified insecticidal long-term effects on the structure of the macroinvertebrate community up to 3 km downstream of WWTPs. The effects were quantified using the trait-based SPEAR(pesticides) index, which has been shown to be an effective tool for identifying community effects of pesticide contamination. In addition, based on the German Saprobic Index, we revealed that WWTPs are still an important source of oxygen-depleting organic pollution, despite the extensive technological improvements in wastewater management over several centuries. In general, our findings emphasize the need to take municipal WWTPs into consideration in the management of river basins under the EU Water Framework Directive to achieve good ecological and chemical status for European streams and rivers.

Distinguishing the effects of habitat degradation and pesticide stress on benthic invertebrates using stressor-specific metrics

Hydromorphological degradation is a well known stressor for running waters, while the effects of elevated levels of pesticides are widely ignored. Hence, distinguishing between the effects of these two stressors is an urgent task for water managers that aim at appropriate remediation measures. We used a large monitoring data set on benthic invertebrates, habitat descriptors, and physico-chemical variables to develop the SPEAR[%](habitat) metric that indicates the effects of in-stream habitat degradation. SPEAR[%](habitat) correlated significantly with the habitat degradation score (HDS; based on substratum and vegetation coverage), while it did not respond to any physico-chemical variables (r(2)=0.20). This relationship improved for streams with low modeled pesticide inputs (r(2)=0.33), and improved even further for a subset of streams dominated by soft-bottom substrata, i.e. for similar stream-types (r(2)=0.65). These relationships were confirmed for an independent dataset that was not used in the derivation of the HDS (r(2)=0.57 and r(2)=0.65, respectively). These findings show that the SPEAR[%](habitat) had a high degree of specificity for the effects of habitat degradation. Conversely, neither the commonly used EPT and ASPT metrics, nor the German Fauna Index or SPEAR[%](pesticides) showed significant relationships with HDS. These metrics instead correlated significantly with the run-off potential (RP), a proxy of pesticide contamination of streams. Similarly, RP was also the most important explanatory variable for SPEAR[%](pesticides), followed by alkalinity and the number of forested upstream stretches (r(2)=0.61). The latter are expected to alleviate pesticide effects, as indicated by higher SPEAR[%](pesticides) values. These findings show that an integrated analysis of the two stressor-specific SPEAR-metrics in combination with the metrics of general ecological degradation can help water managers to distinguish between the effects of habitat degradation and pesticide stress, two co-occurring stressors in agricultural landscapes.

Evaluating pesticide effects on freshwater invertebrate communities in alpine environment: a model ecosystem experiment

Pesticide loads in streams are potentially one of the most relevant stressors for macroinvertebrate communities. Nevertheless, real effects provoked at the community level are still largely unknown. Model ecosystems are frequently used as tools for the risk assessment of pesticides, especially for their regulation, however, they can be also applied to site-specific risk assessment in order to gain better understanding of the responses of aquatic ecosystems to chemical stress. In the present work, an experimental system was composed of 5 artificial streams that reproduced a mountain lotic environment under controlled conditions. This study was aimed to better understand, whether (and how) the biological community was influenced by pesticides pulse exposures. 5 mixture load events were simulated over the productive season (March-July 2010): biological community was regularly sampled and nominal concentrations of water were tested. The results were interpreted comparing the output of different metrics and statistical methodologies. The sensitivity of different metrics was analyzed considering single exposure events (maximum Toxic Units) as well as overall temporal trends. Results showed how some common taxonomic metrics (e.g. taxa richness, Shannon's index, total abundance of organisms, and the Extended Biotic Index) were not suitable to identify the effects of pesticides at community level. On the contrary EPT%, SPEAR(pesticide) and the Principal Response Curve methodology proved to be sensitive to this kind of stress, providing comparable results. Temporal trends of these metrics proved to be related to the concentration of chemicals. Remarkably, the first Principal Response Curve illustrates the trend followed by the most vulnerable species, while the second is more related to the trend of opportunistic species. A high potential risk for the invertebrate community was highlighted by a statistically significant decline of 40 points (comparison with the control) in both SPEAR(pesticide) and EPT%.

Integrated assessment of the impact of chemical stressors on surface water ecosystems

The release of chemicals such as chlorinated solvents, pesticides and other xenobiotic organic compounds to streams, either from contaminated sites, accidental or direct application/release, is a significant threat to water resources. In this paper, different methods for evaluating the impacts of chemical stressors on stream ecosystems are evaluated for a stream in Denmark where the effects of major physical habitat degradation can be disregarded. The methods are: (i) the Danish Stream Fauna Index, (ii) Toxic Units (TU), (iii) SPEAR indices, (iv) Hazard Quotient (HQ) index and (v) AQUATOX, an ecological model. The results showed that the hydromorphology, nutrients, biological oxygen demand and contaminants (pesticides and trichloroethylene from a contaminated site) originating from groundwater do not affect the good ecological status in the stream. In contrast, the evaluation by the novel SPEAR(pesticides) index and TU indicated that the site is far from obtaining good ecological status - a direct contradiction to the ecological index currently in use in Denmark today - most likely due to stream sediment-bound pesticides arising from the spring spraying season. In order to generalise the findings of this case study, the HQ index and AQUATOX were extended for additional compounds, not only partly to identify potential compounds of concern, but also to determine thresholds where ecological impacts could be expected to occur. The results demonstrate that some commonly used methods for the assessment of ecological impact are not sufficient for capturing - and ideally separating - the effects of all anthropogenic stressors affecting ecosystems. Predictive modelling techniques can be especially useful in supporting early decisions on prioritising hot spots, serving to identify knowledge gaps and thereby direct future data collection. This case study presents a strong argument for combining bioassessment and modelling techniques to multi-stressor field sites, especially before cost-intensive studies are conducted.

Stream habitat structure influences macroinvertebrate response to pesticides

Agricultural pesticides continue to impair surface water ecosystems, although there are few assessments of interactions with other modifications such as fine sediment and physical alteration for flood drainage. We, therefore, surveyed pesticide contamination and macroinvertebrates in 14 streams along a gradient of expected pesticide exposure using a paired-reach approach to differentiate effects between physically modified and less modified sites. Apparent pesticides effects on the relative abundance of SPEcies At Risk (SPEAR) were increased at sites with degraded habitats primarily due to the absence of species with specific preferences for hard substrates. Our findings highlight the importance of physical habitat degradation in the assessment and mitigation of pesticide risk in agricultural streams.

Impacts of pesticides and natural stressors on leaf litter decomposition in agricultural streams

Agricultural pesticides are known to significantly impact the composition of communities in stream ecosystems. Moreover, agricultural streams are often characterised by loss of physical habitat diversity which may impose additional stress resulting from suboptimal environmental conditions. We surveyed pesticide contamination and rates of leaf litter decomposition in 14 1st and 2nd order Danish streams using litter bags with coarse and fine mesh sizes. Two sites differing in physical habitat complexity were sampled in each stream, and we used this approach to differentiate the effects of pesticides between sites with uniform (silt and sand) and more heterogeneous physical properties. Microbial litter decomposition was reduced by a factor two to four in agricultural streams compared to forested streams, and we found that the rate of microbial litter decomposition responded most strongly to pesticide toxicity for microorganisms and not to eutrophication. Moreover, the rate of microbial litter decomposition was generally 50% lower at sites with uniform physical habitats dominated by soft substrate compared to the sites with more heterogeneous physical habitats. The rate of macroinvertebrate shredding activity was governed by the density of shredders, and the density of shredders was not correlated to pesticide contamination mainly due to high abundances of the amphipod Gammarus pulex at all sites. Our study provides the first field based results on the importance of multiple stressors and their potential to increase the effect of agricultural pesticides on important ecosystem processes.