Understanding the environmental roles of herbicides on cyanobacteria, cyanotoxins, and cyanoHABs

Brêda-Alves, Fernanda; Fernandes, Valéria de Oliveira; Chia, Mathias Ahii

doi:10.1007/s10452-021-09849-2

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 105 publications

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“…Some herbicides can reduce the absorption of nutrients (nitrates, nitrites, phosphorus, and silica, in particular). In their review of the environmental consequences of herbicide impacts on cyanobacteria, Brêda‐Alves et al (2021) showed that increasing concentrations of several herbicides in aquatic environments impair atmospheric nitrogen fixation by cyanobacteria, as a result of photosynthesis inhibition. Such a decrease is likely to impact the overall aquatic nitrogen cycle.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Twenty Years of Research in Ecosystem Functions in Aquatic Microbial Ecotoxicology

Morin,

Artigas

2023

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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One of the major threats to freshwater biodiversity is water pollution including excessive loads of nutrients, pesticides, industrial chemicals, and/or emerging contaminants. The widespread use of organic pesticides for agricultural and nonagricultural (industry, gardening, etc.) purposes has resulted in the presence of their residues in various environments, including surface waters. However, the contribution of pesticides to the deterioration of freshwater ecosystems (i.e., biodiversity decline and ecosystem functions impairment) remains uncertain. Once in the aquatic environment, pesticides and their metabolites can interact with microbial communities, causing undesirable effects. The existing legislation on ecological quality assessment of water bodies in Europe is based on water chemical quality and biological indicator species (Water Framework Directive, Pesticides Directive), while biological functions are not yet included in monitoring programs. In the present literature review, we analyze 20 years (2000–2020) of research on ecological functions provided by microorganisms in aquatic ecosystems. We describe the set of ecosystem functions investigated in these studies and the range of endpoints used to establish causal relationships between pesticide exposure and microbial responses. We focus on studies addressing the effects of pesticides at environmentally realistic concentrations and at the microbial community level to inform the ecological relevance of the ecotoxicological assessment. Our literature review highlights that most studies were performed using benthic freshwater organisms and that autotrophic and heterotrophic communities are most often studied separately, usually testing the pesticides that target the main microbial component (i.e., herbicides for autotrophs and fungicides for heterotrophs). Overall, most studies demonstrate deleterious impacts on the functions studied, but our review points to the following shortcomings: (1) the nonsystematic analysis of microbial functions supporting aquatic ecosystems functioning, (2) the study of ecosystem functions (i.e., nutrient cycling) via proxies (i.e., potential extracellular enzymatic activity measurements) which are sometimes disconnected from the current ecosystem functions, and (3) the lack of consideration of chronic exposures to assess the impact of, adaptations to, or recovery of aquatic microbial communities from pesticides. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;00:1–22. © 2023 SETAC

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Twenty Years of Research in Ecosystem Functions in Aquatic Microbial Ecotoxicology

Morin,

Artigas

2023

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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“…Beyond fertilizers, the use of chemicals in agriculture has increased greatly over the last several decades [158], and mounting evidence suggests that the presence of these chemicals in surface waters may increase the risk of HAB occurrence. In the simplest scenario, agrochemical-tolerant algal species would have a reproductive advantage over intolerant species and consequently grow to higher densities.…”

Section: Influence Of Land Cover and Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Toxic Algae in Inland Waters of the Conterminous United States—A Review and Synthesis

Patiño

Christensen

Graham

et al. 2023

Water

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Cyanobacteria are the most common toxigenic algae in inland waters. Their toxins can affect the health of aquatic and terrestrial organisms, including humans. Other algal groups, such as haptophytes (e.g., Prymnesium parvum) and euglenoids (e.g., Euglena sanguinea), can also form harmful algal blooms (HABs) whose toxins cause injury to aquatic biota but currently have no known effects on human health. Prymnesium parvum, however, is responsible for some of the worst HAB-related ecological disasters recorded in inland waters. Here, we provide an overview of the primary toxigenic algae found in U.S. inland waters: cyanobacteria (planktonic forms), P. parvum, and E. sanguinea with the objective of describing their similarities and differences in the areas of HAB ecology, algal toxins, and the potential for future range expansion of HABs. A detailed account of bloom habitats and their known associations with land cover and use is provided from the perspective of water quality. This review revealed that salinity may have an influence on inland cyanobacterial blooms and cyanotoxins that had not been fully recognized previously.

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“…Eutrophication, accompanied by continued economic development, especially in densely populated areas of the world, constantly threatens the service functions of freshwater systems . High concentrations of herbicides may affect the growth of microalgae and cyanobacteria by altering their metabolic profile, , and they may even contribute to the formation of harmful cyanobacterial blooms (cyanoHABs). , Algae are sensitive to herbicides, and there is also great variability in species sensitivity. Studies show that the low sensitivity of cyanobacteria, a typical prokaryotic phytoplankton, to glyphosate-based herbicides and its ability to utilize phosphonates might be the key for its predominance. , Under the multiple challenges of climate warming and human activities, toxic cyanobacterial blooms tend to occur more frequently and for longer periods of time, further threatening future human health and ecosystem services. − Therefore, it is necessary to fill the knowledge gaps of the results of this interaction to support future lake management decisions or climate mitigation interventions to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Herbicides in surface runoff from agricultural landscapes alter the physical and chemical conditions of aquatic ecosystems and change the community structure and dynamics of phytoplankton. Herbicides constitute about 47% of the global agrochemical market; among them, glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) are the most widely used herbicides worldwide. − The presence of herbicides can facilitate , or inhibit , the production and release of cyanotoxins by cyanobacteria. , Although some evidence exists that herbicides change the phytoplankton community structure and affect the growth of cyanobacteria toward the formation of harmful cyanobacterial blooms (cyanoHABs), there is still a lot that remains to be done to fully understand their effects . Obviously, blooms of cyanobacteria are a great threat to freshwater quality and global water security. , There is now a considerable amount of research addressing the mechanism of cyanobacterial blooms, although the interactive effects of these driving factors and cyanobacterial blooms are still not clear. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemodiversity of Cyanobacterial Toxins Driven by Future Scenarios of Climate Warming and Eutrophication

Yang

Wang

Yan

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Climate change and eutrophication are two environmental threats that can alter the structure of freshwater ecosystems and their service functions, but we know little about how ecosystem structure and function will evolve in future scenarios of climate warming. Therefore, we created different experimental climate scenarios, including present-day conditions, a 3.0 °C increase in mean temperature, and a "heatwaves" scenario (i.e., an increase in temperature variability) to assess the effects of climate change on phytoplankton communities under simultaneous stress from eutrophication and herbicides. We show that the effects of climate warming, particularly heatwaves, are associated with elevated cyanobacterial abundances and toxin production, driven by a change from mainly nontoxic to toxic Microcystis spp. The reason for higher cyanobacterial toxin concentrations is likely an increase in abundances because under the dual pressures of climate warming and eutrophication individual Microcystis toxin-producing ability decreased. Eutrophication and higher temperatures significantly increased the biomass of Microcystis, leading to an increase in the cyanobacterial toxin concentrations. In contrast, warming alone did not produce higher cyanobacterial abundances or cyanobacterial toxin concentrations likely due to the depletion of the available nutrient pool. Similarly, the herbicide glyphosate alone did not affect abundances of any phytoplankton taxa. In the case of nutrient enrichment, cyanobacterial toxin concentrations were much higher than under warming alone due to a strong boost in biomass of potential cyanobacterial toxin producers. From a broader perspective our study shows that in a future warmer climate, nutrient loading has to be reduced if toxic cyanobacterial dominance is to be controlled.

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Understanding the environmental roles of herbicides on cyanobacteria, cyanotoxins, and cyanoHABs

Cited by 16 publications

References 105 publications

Twenty Years of Research in Ecosystem Functions in Aquatic Microbial Ecotoxicology

Twenty Years of Research in Ecosystem Functions in Aquatic Microbial Ecotoxicology

Toxic Algae in Inland Waters of the Conterminous United States—A Review and Synthesis

Chemodiversity of Cyanobacterial Toxins Driven by Future Scenarios of Climate Warming and Eutrophication

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