Limitations of Laboratory Bioassays: The Need for Ecosystem-Level Testing

Kimball, Kenneth D.; Levin, Simon A.

doi:10.2307/1309866

Cited by 253 publications

(163 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The main advantage of biomonitoring is a continuous evaluation of water quality. Plants may serve as bioindicators of a combination of contaminants and physical conditions which would otherwise not be measurable in toxicity/chemical tests for a single contaminant or by hydrogeochemical assay [87,88].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Plants in a Constructed Wetland: Current and New Perspectives

Shelef

Gross

Rachmilevitch

2013

Water

171

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Abstract:The role of plants in the treatment of effluents by constructed wetland (CW) systems is under debate. Here, we review ways in which plants can affect CW processes and suggest two novel functions for plants in CWs. The first is salt phytoremediation by halophytes. We have strong evidence that halophytic plants can reduce wastewater salinity by accumulating salts in their tissues. Our studies have shown that Bassia indica, a halophytic annual, is capable of salt phytoremediation, accumulating sodium to up to 10% of its dry weight. The second novel use of plants in CWs is as phytoindicators of water quality. We demonstrate that accumulation of H 2 O 2 , a marker for plant stress, is reduced in the in successive treatment stages, where water quality is improved. It is recommended that monitoring and management of CWs consider the potential of plants as phytoremediators and phytoindicators.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Plants in a Constructed Wetland: Current and New Perspectives

Shelef

Gross

Rachmilevitch

2013

Water

171

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“…Another glaring issue is that most traditional studies to date have typically ignored sublethal effects such as changes in resource preference that further mediate the effects of abiotic factor on species interactions and identities (Rohr et al, 2006;van den Brink, 2006). The traditional approach thus presents a considerable oversimplification of real environmental conditions (Cairns, 1983;Kimball and Levin, 1985;Calow and Forbes, 2003;Rohr et al, 2006;van den Brink, 2006;Vijver et al, 2017), thereby warranting experimental studies that assess the effect of multiple stressors on trophic linkages in aquatic food webs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pressure-Induced Shifts in Trophic Linkages in a Simplified Aquatic Food Web

Schrama

Barmentlo

Hunting

et al. 2017

Front. Environ. Sci.

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It is essential to understand effects of existing and emerging anthropogenic stressors on the structure of aquatic food webs in more natural settings, to obtain realistic predictions on how they can affect major ecosystem properties and functioning. We therefore examined whether (1) realistic concentrations of key agricultural pesticides and nutrients induce shifts in trophic linkages (2) observed changes in trophic linkages are qualitatively different between the green (algal-based) and brown (detritus-based) part of the food web. To this end, we exposed a simplified, yet realistic freshwater invertebrate community to environmentally relevant concentrations of three anthropogenic pressures (eutrophication; the herbicide terbuthylazine; and the insecticide imidacloprid) in a full factorial mesocosm design. Trophic linkages and the changes therein were assessed measuring stable isotopes of natural carbon and nitrogen. Results show that the green and brown part of the food web react qualitatively different to interacting pressures. Whereas, herbivorous species react mainly to the nutrients and herbicides and the synergistic interaction between these, species in the detritivore part of the food web were affected by insecticide applications and interactions with nutrients. These results suggest that agricultural pressures can induce shifts in trophic linkages, but that they can have contrasting effects on the different parts of the food web. Such antagonistic and synergistic interactions can provide powerful explanations for observed responses of ecosystems to interacting stressors. These findings may have important implications for our understanding on interactions of agricultural stressors and their propagation in aquatic food webs.

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“…For example, many studies evaluating the detrimental effects of environmental contaminants have relied on standard toxicological methods that measure effects on individual organisms (Cairns and Pratt 1993, Clements and Kiffney 1994, Stark 2005. Long-standing recognition of the limitations of this approach (Cairns 1984, Kimball and Levin 1985 prompted several studies that used integrative methods to bridge the gap between individual-level effects of environmental contaminants and population-level processes (e.g., Forbes and Calow 2002, Tanaka 2003, Miller and Ankley 2004, Lin et al 2005, but this approach has seldom been applied to terrestrial vertebrates (but see Nakamaru et al 2002, 2003, Karraker et al 2008, Salice et al 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making leaps in amphibian ecotoxicology: translating individual‐level effects of contaminants to population viability

Willson

Hopkins

Bergeron

et al. 2012

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. Concern that environmental contaminants contribute to global amphibian population declines has prompted extensive experimental investigation, but individual-level experimental results have seldom been translated to population-level processes. We used our research on the effects of mercury (Hg) on American toads (Bufo americanus) as a model for bridging the gap between individual-level contaminant effects and amphibian population viability. We synthesized the results of previous field and laboratory studies examining effects of Hg throughout the life cycle of B. americanus and constructed a comprehensive demographic population model to evaluate the consequences of Hg exposure on population dynamics. Our model explicitly considered density-dependent larval survival, which is known to be an important driver of amphibian population dynamics, and incorporated two important factors that have seldom been considered in previous amphibian modeling studies: environmental stochasticity and sublethal effects. We demonstrated that decreases in embryonic survival and sublethal effects (e.g., reduced body size) that delay maturation have minor effects on population dynamics, whereas contaminant effects that reduce late-larval or post-metamorphic survival have important population-level consequences. We found that excessive Hg exposure through maternal transfer or larval diet, alone, had minor effects on B. americanus populations. Simultaneous maternal and dietary exposure resulted in reduced population size and a dramatic increase in extinction probability, but explicit prediction of population-level effects was dependent on the strength of larval density dependence. Our results suggest that environmental contaminants can influence amphibian population viability, but that highly integrative approaches are needed to translate individual-level effects to populations.

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Limitations of Laboratory Bioassays: The Need for Ecosystem-Level Testing

Cited by 253 publications

References 34 publications

Role of Plants in a Constructed Wetland: Current and New Perspectives

Role of Plants in a Constructed Wetland: Current and New Perspectives

Pressure-Induced Shifts in Trophic Linkages in a Simplified Aquatic Food Web

Making leaps in amphibian ecotoxicology: translating individual‐level effects of contaminants to population viability

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