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Stream Mesocosm Experiments Show no Protective Effects of Calcium on Copper Toxicity to Macroinvertebrates.

ABSTRACT: Although the concept and modeling of metal bioavailability and toxicity have been well developed based largely on laboratory experiments with standard test species, additional evidence is required to demonstrate their applicability for macroinvertebrates typically found in natural lotic ecosystems. We conducted 10-day stream mesocosm experiments to test the hypothesis that increased water hardness (in the present study, the calcium [Ca] concentration was increased by adding CaCl₂ ) would mitigate the effects of copper (Cu) on natural benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Exposure of macroinvertebrate communities to 25 μg/L Cu for 10 days in stream mesocosm experiments resulted in significant decreases in total abundance, in number of taxa, and in abundance of many macroinvertebrate taxa. However, the addition of Ca to stream mesocosms and the associated increase in water hardness up to 250 mg/L CaCO₃ did not mitigate these effects of Cu on macroinvertebrate communities. The results showed that the hardness-based water quality criteria for Cu of the US Environmental Protection Agency were not protective under the conditions of relatively high hardness, low alkalinity, and circumneutral pH. In contrast, the water quality criteria based on the biotic ligand model predicted little protective effects of Ca on Cu toxicity, which is consistent with our results. Additional experiments are required to understand the influence of modifying factors on the toxicity of metals to macroinvertebrate communities. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:1304-1310. © 2022 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

SUBMITTER: Iwasaki Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9311704 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Ecologists rely on various functional traits when investigating the functioning of ecological systems and its responses to global changes. Changing nutrient levels, for example, can affect taxa expressing different trait combinations in various ways, e.g., favoring small, fast-growing species under high phosphorus conditions. Stoichiometric traits, describing the elemental composition of organism body tissues, can help in understanding the mechanisms behind such functional shifts. So far, mainly life-history traits have been related to body stoichiometry (e.g., the growth rate hypothesis) on a limited number of taxa, and there is little knowledge of the general link between stoichiometric and other functional traits on a taxonomically large scale. Here, we highlight this link in the freshwater macroinvertebrates, testing predictions from underlying trait-based and Ecological Stoichiometry Theory (EST) in >200 taxa belonging to eight larger taxonomic groups. We applied a series of multivariate analyses on six of their stoichiometric traits (%C, %N, %P, C:N, C:P, and N:P) and 23 biological and ecological traits. We found significant relationships between stoichiometric traits and other types of traits when analyzing single-trait and multi-trait profiles. Patterns found within traits related to organism development or nutrient cycling were in line with our assumptions based on EST, e.g., traits describing predators were associated with high %N; traits suggesting a fast development (small maximum body size and high molting frequency) with high %P. Associations between ecological traits and body stoichiometry could be explained by the longitudinal stream gradient: Taxa preferring headwater habitats (i.e., high altitude, coarse substrate, and cold temperature) exhibited high %N and %P. Demonstrating the link between stoichiometric and both bio- and ecological traits on a large diversity of taxa underlines the potential of integrating stoichiometric traits into ecological analyses to improve our understanding of taxonomic and functional responses of communities-and ecosystems-to changing environmental conditions worldwide.

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Stream Mesocosm Experiments Show no Protective Effects of Calcium on Copper Toxicity to Macroinvertebrates.

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