333.7 Natürliche Ressourcen, Energie und Umwelt
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Highlights
• Cryptic species are a so far overlooked aspect of environmental risk assessment.
• Multiple populations of four genetic lineages exposed in acute toxicity assays.
• Thiacloprid exposure shows up to 4-fold differences in tolerance among populations.
• Recent substance exposure probably triggers population-specific adaptive mechanisms.
• Population-level vulnerability calls for a shift in ecotoxicological methodology.
Abstract
Cryptic species are rarely considered in ecotoxicology, resulting in misleading outcomes when using a single morphospecies that encompasses multiple cryptic species. This oversight contributes to the lack of reproducibility in ecotoxicological experiments and promotes unreliable extrapolations. The important question of ecological differentiation and the sensitivity of cryptic species is rarely tackled, leaving a substantial knowledge gap regarding the vulnerability of individual cryptic species within species complexes. In times of agricultural intensification and the frequent use of pesticides, there is an urgent need for a better understanding of the vulnerability of species complexes and possible differences in adaptive processes. We used the cryptic species complex of the aquatic amphipod Gammarus roeselii, which comprises at least 13 genetic mtDNA lineages and spans from small-scale endemic lineages in Greece to a large-scale widely distributed lineage in central Europe. We exposed eleven populations belonging to four lineages to the neonicotinoid thiacloprid in an acute toxicity assay. We recorded various environmental variables in each habitat to assess the potential pre-exposure of the populations to contaminants. Our results showed that the populations differed up to 4-fold in their tolerances. The lineage identity had a rather minor influence, suggesting that the cryptic species complex G. roeselii does not differ significantly in tolerance to the neonicotinoid thiacloprid. However, the observed population differentiation implies that recent pre-exposure to thiacloprid (or similar substances) or general habitat contamination has triggered adaptive processes. Though, the extent to which these mechanisms are equally triggered in all lineages needs to be addressed in the future. Our study provides two key findings: Firstly, it shows that observed phylogenetic differences within the G. roeselii species complex did not reveal differences in thiacloprid tolerance. Second, it confirms that differentiation occurs at the population level, highlighting that susceptibility to toxicants is population-dependent. The population-specific differences were within the range of accepted intraspecific variability from a regulatory standpoint. From an evolutionary-ecological perspective, it remains intriguing to observe how persistent stresses will continue to influence tolerance and whether different populations are on distinct pathways of adaptation. Given that the potential selection process has only lasted a relatively short number of generations, it is crucial to monitor these populations in the future, as even brief exposure periods significantly impact evolutionary responses.
Highlights
• AIS is a useful tool for assessing the effects of repeated pulse exposures.
• Deltamethrin impacts aquatic communities at reported environmental exposure levels.
• Gammarus pulex as most sensitive species to repeated pulse exposures.
• MEC exceed the RAC derived from our results indicating a risk for aquatic organisms.
Abstract
Pesticides are considered to be one of the main causes of the decline in macroinvertebrate biodiversity in small streams. In particular, pyrethroids are detected in agricultural surface waters worldwide and pose a high risk to aquatic invertebrates. Due to their knock-down effect, even short pyrethroid exposure pulses can have significant short- and long-term effects on macroinvertebrate communities. Therefore, it is necessary to consider more realistic exposure scenarios for the environmental risk assessment of pyrethroids and, consequently, to obtain more realistic effect data by using multi-stressor test systems.
In an experimental setup with artificial indoor streams (AIS), four pyrethroid pulses simulated the exposure scenario of heavy rainfall events. Effects of these 12 h-exposures at different concentrations of deltamethrin (0.64 ng/L, 4 ng/L, 16 ng/L, 64 ng/L) with intervening recovery periods of six days were assessed on an aquatic community consisting of Gammarus pulex, Ephemera danica, Lumbriculus variegatus and Potamopyrgus antipodarum with various lethal and sub-lethal endpoints.
The mortality rate of G. pulex significantly increased with increasing deltamethrin concentrations, whereas the mean number of offspring significantly decreased (NOECoffspring: 16 ng/L, LOECoffspring: 64 ng/L). The biomass of L. variegatus decreased with increasing deltamethrin concentrations (NOECdry weight: 16 ng/L, LOECdry weight: 64 ng/L).
The findings of this study clearly demonstrate that 12 h-deltamethrin pulses at environmentally relevant concentrations adversely affect an aquatic community. Based on the results of this study a RAC value of 5.33 ng/L is assumed, which is below the concentrations measured in rivers of up to 58.8 ng/L. Unacceptable effects on the entire freshwater environment can therefore not be ruled out. The experimental AIS approach is a useful tool for assessing the effects of repeated pulse exposures that occur during surface runoff events.
Background: With the increasing impacts of climate change, heatwaves are placing an enormous burden on health and social systems and threatening ecological diversity around the world. Heatwaves are increasing not only in frequency but also in severity and magnitude. They are causing the deaths of thousands of people. Research is needed on a multidisciplinary, supra-regional, and regional level.
Methods: A detailed evaluation of the research conducted is not yet available. Therefore, this study provides a detailed insight into the publication landscape to identify key players, incentives, and requirements for future scientific efforts that are useful not only for scientists but also to stakeholders and project funders.
Results: The number of publications on heatwaves is increasing, outpacing the trend of research indexed by the Science Citation Index Expanded. However, funding is lagging behind comparatively. Looking at absolute numbers, the USA, Australia, China, and some European countries have been identified as major players in heatwave research. If socio-economic numbers are included, Switzerland and Portugal lead the way. Australia and the UK dominate if the change in heatwave-exposed people is included. Nevertheless, exposure and economic strength of publishing countries were identified as the main drivers of national research interests. Previous heatwaves, in particular, have driven research efforts primarily at the national level.
Conclusion: For an efficient monitoring or early detection system that also includes the economically weak regions, internationally networked efforts are necessary to enable preventive measures and damage limitation against heatwaves. Regardless of previous regional extreme heat events, research approaches should be focused to the global level.
Das Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources wurde mit dem zentralen Ziel initiiert, die Armut in den ländlichen, jedoch wildreichen Peripherieräumen Zimbabwes zu mildern, indem den ländlichen Gemeinden das Recht einer nachhaltigen Nutzung des Wilds übertragen wurde. Hiermit verknüpft ist die Erwartung, dass die Bevölkerung die von ihnen nutzbare Ressource Wild nachhaltig sichern wird und so ein großer und artenreicher Wildbestand langfristig erhalten bleibt. Die Studie belegt, dass in das Programm zahlreiche Akteure auf verschiedenen Hierarchieebenen und mit oft unterschiedlichen oder sogar widersprüchlichen Interessen eingebunden sind. In einigen Distrikten sind die CAMPFIRE-Einnahmen insbesondere durch den Jagdtourismus in den letzten zehn Jahren zwar sprunghaft gestiegen, die in allen Distrikten jedoch insgesamt geringen Einnahmen haben die gravierende Armut der Zielgruppe des Programms, der ländlichen Bevölkerung, nicht mildern können. Der hohe und wachsende Wildbestand hat die Konflikte zwischen Mensch und Wild erhöht; die Kosten der großen Wildschäden können durch die bescheidenen CAMPFIRE-Einnahmen nicht kompensiert werden. Auch das Empowerment-Ziel, die Förderung einer grass root development, konnte bisher nur sehr eingeschränkt erreicht werden, weil u.a. die Entscheidungen insbesondere über die Verteilung der Einnahmen von oben nach unten verlaufen. Die Biodiversität, vor allem der hohe und artenreiche Wildbestand, konnte jedoch bisher gesichert und sogar ausgebaut werden, u.a. weil der Jagdtourismus nachhaltig betrieben wird, die Jagdquoten die Reproduktionsraten bei weitem nicht erreichen.
Kommunale Conservancies in Namibia: Ansätze der Biodiversitätssicherung und Armutsbekämpfung?
(2007)
Kommunale Conservancies sind in Namibia seit 1998 eine wesentliche Komponente und integraler Teil eines breiteren Community-based Natural Resources Management-Programms. Die Conservancies fokussieren sich in ihrer Entwicklung auf den Wildbestand, über den sie Zugang zu Ressourcen erhalten, der den lokalen Gemeinschaften vormals versagt war. Sie eröffnen der Bevölkerung ländlicher Räume zudem die Möglichkeit, ihren Lebensstandard durch eine nachhaltige Nutzung des Wildbestandes für Safari-Tourismus, Trophäenjagd und Fleisch zu verbessern. Das Programm basiert auf der Annahme, dass die Bevölkerung ihre natürlichen Ressourcen nur schützen und nachhaltig nutzen wird, wenn sie hierdurch Nutzen erzielen.
Dieser Beitrag basiert auf Theorieansätzen der Politischen Ökologie und analysiert das rapide Wachstum und die räumliche Ausbreitung der Hegegemeinschaften, ihre Einkommensquellen, die Modi und Probleme der Verwaltung und Verteilung der Nutzen als eine zentrale Herausforderung für den Erfolg des Programms sowie die Rolle der verschiedenen im Programm engagierten Akteure. Safaritourismus und Trophäenjagd sind die wichtigsten Quellen monetärer und nichtmonetärer Nutzen. Joint Ventures sind von wachsender Bedeutung für die Generierung von Einkommen. Bisher sind jedoch in fast allen Conservancies die Nutzen im Vergleich zu den Kosten zu gering, um den Lebensstandard der Bevölkerung zu verbessern und eine breitere Regionalentwicklung zu initiieren. Die Kosten der Biodiversitätssicherung sind im Vergleich zu den Nutzen sehr hoch; viele Bewohner leiden unter den hohen Schäden durch die große und zunehmende Zahl von Wildtieren. Zudem sind die Opportunitätskosten eine hohe Belastung für die Bevölkerung, da große, vom geschützten Wild genutzte Flächen nicht für Landwirtschaft und Siedlungen genutzt werden können. Daher ist es zweifelhaft, ob der Tourismus ausreichend Einkommen generieren kann, um die Kosten der Biodiversitätssicherung zu kompensieren und die hohen Erwartungen der Bevölkerung zu befriedigen. Sehr wahrscheinlich wird die nachhaltige Sicherung der Biodiversität und namentlich des Wildbestandes auf breiterer Basis auch in Zukunft nur erfolgreich sein, wenn sie massiv durch ausländische Geber und die internationale Gemeinschaft subventioniert wird.
Wild ist in vielen Ländern Afrikas eine wichtige Ressource. Hierauf basiert der in zahlreichen Regionen bedeutende Safari- und Jagdtourismus; die heimische Bevölkerung nutzt Wild zur Fleischversorgung. Ohne Berücksichtigung der überkommenen Ansprüche der Afrikaner wurden schon in der Kolonialzeit große Areale als Schutzgebiete zur Sicherung des Wildbestandes ausgewiesen. Im Zuge des Bevölkerungswachstums verschärften sich die Landnutzungskonflikte zwischen Bevölkerung, Wildschutz und Tourismus. Insbesondere die Wilderei gefährdete den Wildbestand. Die Studie geht von der These aus, daß ein regulierter Jagdtourismus im Rahmen einer umfassenden Wildbewirtschaftung ein Instrument nachhaltiger Entwicklung zur langfristigen Sicherung der Ressource Wild dann sein kann, wenn die heimische Bevölkerung stärker an den Erlösen aus dem Jagdtourismus sowie an der Planung und Implementierung des Naturschutzes beteiligt wird. Am Beispiel der Selous G.R. werden Ansätze, Erfolge und Probleme der Partizipation der Bevölkerung sowie die wirtschaftliche Bedeutung des Jagdtourismus unter Berücksichtigung ökologischer Aspekte aufgezeigt. Aufgrund der naturräumlichen Bedingungen des Reservats und ausgerichtet an dem Ziel der Sicherung der Biodiversität bietet sich der Jagdtourismus als optimale Landnutzung im ökonomischen Interesse der Bevölkerung auch deshalb an, weil die Selous G.R. nur ein sehr geringes agrarwirtschaftliches Potential aufweist (schlechte Böden, Tsetse-Fliege). Langfristig können die Einnahmen aus dem Tourismus die aus der Schließung des Reservats für andere Nutzungen resultierenden Opportunitätskosten jedoch nicht kompensieren. Eine massive finanzielle Unterstützung Tanzanias durch wohlhabendere Länder zur nachhaltigen Sicherung des „Weltnaturerbes" Selous G.R. wird notwendig sein.
Living in the Plastic Age : Perspectives from Humanities, Social Sciences and Environmental Sciences
(2023)
Plastikmüll ist überall auf unserem Planeten zu finden. Er hinterlässt einen augenscheinlichen Fußabdruck des menschlichen Konsumverhaltens und der Massenproduktion. Unser ungebremster Plastikkonsum und dessen Auswirkungen prägen die gesellschaftlichen Naturverhältnisse in einer so tiefgreifenden Weise, dass wir vom Plastikzeitalter sprechen. Um Ansätze für einen Umgang mit diesem Problem zu entwickeln, müssen wir das Phänomen umfassend verstehen: Die Autor:innen beleuchten es aus interdisziplinärer Perspektive. Sie zeigen, welche Rolle Kunststoffe in unserer Gesellschaft spielen und welche Auswirkungen sie auf die Umwelt und die menschliche Gesundheit haben.
Highlights
• Comprehensive pesticide monitoring at 105 sites over two application periods.
• RAC exceedances occurred for majority of small streams.
• Rainfall increases pesticide concentrations in streams by factor of 10.
• 2,4-D, MCPA, terbuthylazine, and nicosulfuron increased most strongly during rainfall.
• Sum concentration of pesticide metabolites factor 10 higher than pesticides.
Abstract
Few studies have examined the exposure of small streams (< 30 km2 catchment size) to agriculturally used pesticides, compared to large rivers. A total of 105 sites in 103 small agricultural streams were investigated for 76 pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides) and 32 pesticide metabolites in spring and summer over two years (2018 and 2019) during dry weather and rainfall using event-driven sampling. The median total concentration of the 76 pesticides was 0.18 µg/L, with 9 pesticides per sample on average (n = 815). This is significantly higher than monitoring data for larger streams, reflecting the close proximity to agricultural fields and the limited dilution by non-agricultural waters. The frequency of detection of all pesticides correlated with sales quantity and half-lives in water. Terbuthylazine, MCPA, boscalid, and tebuconazole showed the highest median concentrations. The median of the total concentration of the 32 metabolites exceeded the pesticide concentration by more than an order of magnitude. During dry weather, the median total concentration of the 76 pesticides was 0.07 µg/L, with 5 pesticides per sample on average. Rainfall events increased the median total pesticide concentration by a factor of 10 (to 0.7 µg/L), and the average number of pesticides per sample to 14 (with up to 41 in single samples). The concentration increase was particularly strong for 2,4-D, MCPA, terbuthylazine, and nicosulfuron (75 percentile). Metabolite concentrations were generally less responsive to rainfall, except for those of terbuthylazine, flufenacet, metamitron, and prothioconazole. The frequent and widespread exceedance of the regulatory acceptable concentrations (RAC) of the 76 pesticides during both, dry weather and rainfall, suggests that current plant protection product authorization and risk mitigation methods are not sufficient to protect small streams.
Combined effects of herbicides and insecticides reduce biomass of sensitive aquatic invertebrates
(2024)
Highlights
• In-stream invertebrate biomass determination performed by image analysis.
• Insecticide pressure reduces abundance of SPEARpesticides taxa.
• Herbicide pressure reduces insecticide-sensitive algae feeders' + predators' biomass.
• Combined effect of herbicide mediated food shortage and insecticide pressure.
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.
Highlights
• 307 chemicals identified, 18 proposed for regular monitoring and abatement.
• Forty-six chemicals detected in >50 % of the sites.
• Ecotoxicological risk on aquatic organisms driven by pesticides.
• Dry seasons pose high risk for crustaceans and algae.
• Seasonal variation of chemical occurrence and concentrations reported.
Abstract
The release of chemicals into the environment presents a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems dependent on the proximity to emission sources and seasonal dynamics of emission and mobilization. While spatial-temporal information on water pollution in Europe is increasing, there are substantial knowledge gaps on seasonal pollution dynamics in tropical countries. Thus, we took Lake Victoria South Basin in western Kenya as a case study to identify spatial and seasonal hot spots of contamination, quantified toxic risks to different groups of organisms, and identified seasonal risk drivers. For this purpose, we analyzed grab water samples from five rivers with agricultural and wastewater treatment plants in their catchment in four different seasons. We used liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) with a target list of 785 organic micropollutants. A total of 307 compounds were detected with concentrations ranging from 0.3 ng/L to 6.6 μg/L. Using a Toxic Unit (TU) approach based on mixture toxicity to standard test organisms, crustaceans were identified as the most affected group followed by algae and fish. For crustaceans, chronic risk thresholds were exceeded in 96 % of all the samples, while 56 % of all samples are expected to be acutely toxic, with the highest risk in February during the dry season. High toxic unit values for algae and fish were recorded in July dry season and May wet season. Diazinon, imidacloprid, clothianidin and pirimiphos-methyl were the major drivers for crustacean toxicity while triclosan and different herbicide mixtures drive risks to algae in dry and wet seasons, respectively. A total of 18 chemicals were found to exceed acute and chronic environmental risk thresholds. With this study, strong spatial-temporal patterns of pollution, risks and risk drivers could be confirmed informing prioritization of monitoring and abatement to enhance water quality and reduce toxic risks.
