Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174343
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Combined effects of herbicides and insecticides reduce biomass of sensitive aquatic invertebrates
Author Liebmann, L.; Schreiner, V.C.; Vormeier, P.; Weisner, O.; Liess, M.
Source Titel Science of the Total Environment
Year 2024
Department ETOX
Volume 946
Page From art. 174343
Language englisch
Topic T9 Healthy Planet
Supplements https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969724044917-mmc1.xlsx
https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969724044917-mmc2.xlsx
https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969724044917-mmc3.docx
Keywords Pesticide pressure; Indirect stress; Food limitation; Functional feeding groups; SPEARpesticides; Image analysis
Abstract The structure and biomass of aquatic invertebrate communities play a crucial role in the matter dynamics of streams. However, biomass is rarely quantified in ecological assessments of streams, and little is known about the environmental and anthropogenic factors that influence it. In this study, we aimed to identify environmental factors that are associated with invertebrate structure and biomass through a monitoring of 25 streams across Germany. We identified invertebrates, assigned them to taxonomic and trait-based groups, and quantified biomass using image-based analysis. We found that insecticide pressure generally reduced the abundance of insecticide-vulnerable populations (R2 = 0.43 applying SPEARpesticides indicator), but not invertebrate biomass. In contrast, herbicide pressure reduced the biomass of several biomass aggregations. Especially, insecticide-sensitive populations, that were directly (algae feeder, R2 = 0.39) or indirectly (predators, R2 = 0.29) dependent on algae, were affected. This indicated a combined effect of possible food shortage due to herbicides and direct insecticide pressure. Specifically, all streams with increased herbicide pressure showed a reduced overall biomass share of Trichoptera from 43 % to 3 % and those of Ephemeroptera from 20 % to 3 % compared to streams grouped by low herbicide pressure. In contrast, insecticide-insensitive Gastropoda increased from 10 % to 45 %, and non-vulnerable leaf-shredding Crustacea increased from 10 % to 22 %. In summary, our results indicate that at the community level, the direct effects of insecticides and the indirect, food-mediated effects of herbicides exert a combined effect on the biomass of sensitive insect groups, thus disrupting food chains at ecosystem level.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=29295
Liebmann, L., Schreiner, V.C., Vormeier, P., Weisner, O., Liess, M. (2024):
Combined effects of herbicides and insecticides reduce biomass of sensitive aquatic invertebrates
Sci. Total Environ. 946 , art. 174343 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174343