Ferns, amphibians, and fish are groups of nontarget organisms affected by many types of pesticides that end up in the environment. This chapter aims to approach the following themes: the influence of different pesticides on the spore germination process and on the differentiation of their gametophyte; aspects regarding the impact of some pesticides on breathing in fish (physiology and histopathology at the branchial level), as well as a series of effects at the hematological and biochemical levels; and changes of some hematological, biochemical, and structural parameters in amphibians. Species that are not directly targeted by the action of the pesticide in the environment, ferns can be used in their gametophyte stage, young or mature sporophyte in different biotests to evaluate the risk associated with these substances. The biochemical, hemathological, and histopathological changes recorded in both fish and amphibians can be considered biomarkers of pesticide pollution.2 Different research on morphology, physiology, and biochemistry of gametophyte and sporophyte of fern species has shown that pesticides affect these processes, depending on species sensitivity, concentration, and exposure time.Fish assimilates pesticides through gills or contaminated food. Gills are the main channel of pesticide penetration, which is why any disease at this level will have a great influence on the adaptive changes in the fish body. The effects of pesticides on fish are numerous and varied: they cause mortality both directly and indirectly, by starvation (destroying the organisms they feed on), affects hatching, growth rate, can lead to malformations, affects reproduction rate, modifies enzyme activity, and cause histopathological changes in organs, genetic effects, etc. Although under experimental conditions fish can survive pesticides in different concentrations, under natural conditions they are more vulnerable to disease, predators, no longer competitive, and no longer dealing with stress caused by changing seasonal temperature, reproduction season or temporary starvation.Amphibians are organisms that populate aquatic ecosystems, being involved in aquatic trophic chains both by eating food and being food for predators. Over the last 20 years, scientists have reported the global decline of amphibian populations. Therefore, in 1996, the International Union for Conservation of Nature registered 156 species of amphibians in the Red List, and recent data show that 1856 species (about 32.5% of all amphibian species) are currently registered.
Influence of pesticides on spore germination and gametophyte differentiation in ferns 2.1 Gametophyte of fernsFerns and lycophytes (pteridophytes) represent 4% of Terra's vascular plants [1], numbering about 11,000 species in 40 families and 300 genres [2]. Different species of pteridophytes are used as medicinal, food, horticultural, and agricultural plants [1] and in the last decade as organisms in acute [3] and chronic phytotoxicity tests [4].The life cycle of pteridophytes is characterized b...