CESAM & Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Environ Pollut. 2009 Aug-Sep;157(8-9):2328-34. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2009.03.027. Epub 2009 Apr 26.
Structural and functional responses of a benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage to pulses of the insecticide imidacloprid were assessed in outdoor stream mesocosms. Imidacloprid pulses reduced invertebrate abundance and community diversity in imidacloprid-dosed streams compared to control streams. These results correlated well with effects of imidacloprid on leaf litter decomposition and feeding rates of Pteronarcys comstocki, a stonefly, in artificial streams. Reductions in oxygen consumption of stoneflies exposed to imidacloprid were also observed in laboratory experiments. Our findings suggest that leaf litter degradation and single species responses can be sensitive ecotoxicological endpoints that can be used as early warning indicators and biomonitoring tools for pesticide contamination. The data generated illustrates the value of mesocosm experiments in environmental assessment and how the consideration of functional and structural endpoints of natural communities together with in situ single species bioassays can improve the evaluation and prediction of pesticide effects on stream ecosystems.
采用野外溪流中观测试验系统，评估了杀虫剂吡虫啉脉冲对底栖大型无脊椎动物群落结构和功能的响应。与对照溪流相比，吡虫啉脉冲处理溪流中的无脊椎动物丰度和群落多样性降低。这些结果与吡虫啉对人工溪流中落叶分解和石蝇（Pteronarcys comstocki）摄食率的影响很好地相关联。在实验室实验中，也观察到暴露于吡虫啉的石蝇耗氧量降低。我们的研究结果表明，落叶分解和单一物种的响应可以作为敏感的生态毒理学终点，可作为农药污染的早期预警指标和生物监测工具。生成的数据说明了中观实验在环境评估中的价值，以及同时考虑自然群落的功能和结构终点以及原位单一物种生物测定如何能够提高对溪流生态系统中农药效应的评估和预测。
