Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/S1470-160X(02)00055-9
Title (Primary) An expert system to estimate the pesticide contamination of small streams using benthic macroinvertebrates as bioindicators Part I. The database of LIMPACT
Author Neumann, M.; Liess, M.; Schulz, R.
Source Titel Ecological Indicators
Year 2003
Department OEC; OEKOTOX; COE
Volume 2
Issue 4
Page From 379
Page To 389
Language englisch
Keywords Agricultural non-point pollution; Surface water; Insecticides; Fungicides; Herbicides; Effect; Runoff
Abstract We developed an expert system (LIMPACT) to estimate the pesticide contamination of streams using macroinvertebrate indicators. Here, we present the database consisting of 157 data sets obtained from 1992 to 2000 through investigation of 104 small headwater streams with an agricultural catchment area. The contamination by pesticides (insecticides, fungicides and herbicides) during rainfall events varied greatly in both water and suspended-particle samples, occasionally reaching ecotoxicologically relevant levels. On the basis of standardised toxicities, the data sets were grouped into Not Detected (n=55), Low (34), Moderate (42) and High (26) contamination with pesticides. Additionally, nine water-quality and morphological parameters were evaluated with regard to their influence on the fauna and are used to exclude unsuitable streams from LIMPACT. The benthic macroinvertebrate fauna data were divided into four time frames (March/April; May/June; July/August; September/October) and analysed regarding the abundance and the abundance dynamics of the 39 most common taxa. In contaminated streams, lower abundance for negative and higher for positive indicator taxa were observed. The number of taxa was significantly lower (unpaired t-test P<0.015) in the most severely contaminated streams. Information abstracted from this empirical approach was used to create rules indicating or not indicating contamination and to build up the heuristic knowledge base of LIMPACT as shown in the Part 2 paper (M. Neumann, J. Baumeister, M. Liess, R. Schulz, An expert system to estimate the pesticide contamination of small streams using benthic macroinvertebrate as bioindicators. Part 2. The knowledge base of LIMPACT, Ecological Indicators, this issue).
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=5098
Neumann, M., Liess, M., Schulz, R. (2003):
An expert system to estimate the pesticide contamination of small streams using benthic macroinvertebrates as bioindicators Part I. The database of LIMPACT
Ecol. Indic. 2 (4), 379 - 389 10.1016/S1470-160X(02)00055-9