Establishing Causality between Pollution and Effects at Different Levels of Biological Organization: The VALIMAR Project

Triebskorn, Rita; Adam, Stefan; Behrens, Anja; Beier, Stefanie; Böhmer, Jürgen; Braunbeck, Thomas; Casper, Heidi; Dietze, Uwe; Gernhöfer, Maike; Honnen, Wolfgang; Köhler, Heinz‐R.; Körner, Wolfgang; Konradt, Jens; Lehmann, Reinhold; Luckenbach, Till; Oberemm, Axel; Schwaiger, Jens; Segner, Helmut; Strmac, Marija; Schüürmann, Gerrit; Siligato, Simonetta; Traunspurger, Walter

doi:10.1080/713609858

Cited by 23 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Herewith, both, liver and gill histoand cytopathology in fish were shown to be suitable biomarkers to discriminate between differently polluted field sites, and are therefore recommended as biomarkers of effect in environmental risk assessment (Schmitt et al 1999;Dietze et al 2001;Lam and Wu 2003). Despite the fact that, generally, causal relationships between effects at the organism level and at higher biological levels, e.g., populations or ecosystems are difficult to establish, several studies showed that cellular effects in central metabolic organs of fish provide evidence for (possibly future) threats to populations (Teh et al 1997;Burkhardt-Holm et al 2002;Triebskorn et al 2002Triebskorn et al , 2003. In the present study, both investigated fish species showed signs of health impairment in livers and gills especially at the sampling sites 1 and 2.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Monitoring pollution in River Mureş, Romania, part II: Metal accumulation and histopathology in fish

Triebskorn

Telcean

Casper

et al. 2007

Environ Monit Assess

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As a part of an exposure and effect monitoring conducted along the river Mureş, Western Romania in 2004, the health status of two indigenous fish species, sneep (Chondrostoma nasus) and European chub (Leuciscus cephalus) was investigated upstream and downstream the city of Arad. In fish, histopathology was assessed in liver and gills, and heavy metals (cadmium, copper, lead and zinc) were analyzed in liver samples. In both fish species, histopathological reactions in the gills (epithelial lifting, focal proliferation of epithelial cells of primary and secondary lamellae and resulting fusion of secondary lamellae, hyperplasia and hypertrophy of mucous cells, focal inflammation and necrosis of epithelial cells) were most severe at the two sampling sites upstream Arad city, which were shown to be polluted by copper, cadmium, faecal coliforms and streptococci in a parallel study. At these two sites, also histopathology in the liver of L. cephalus was more prominent than at the two downstream sites. In C. nasus, symptoms in the liver (focal inflammation with lymphocytic infiltrations, macrophage aggregates and single cell necrosis) were also highly pronounced at the sampling site located directly downstream the municipal sewage treatment plant of Arad. With the exception of copper accumulation in L. cephalus caught at the most upstream sampling site, in both fish species cadmium and copper accumulation were exceptionally high and did not differ significantly between the four sampling sites.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Monitoring pollution in River Mureş, Romania, part II: Metal accumulation and histopathology in fish

Triebskorn

Telcean

Casper

et al. 2007

Environ Monit Assess

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Future work will require well co‐ordinated laboratory and field investigations based on matching methodologies to improve understanding of the links between microbiota and larger organisms before, if ever, one can be used as a proxy for the other (e.g. Triebskorn et al ., ). Nonetheless, our study represents a proof of concept as to how vastly different metrics might be linked and, as more data are generated over time, potential time × treatment interactions can also be more thoroughly explored.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gammarus pulex; Xuereb et al, 2007), and community-and ecosystem-level responses have been demonstrated in microand mesocosm experiments (e.g. Van den Brink et al, 1995;Van Wijngaarden et al, 1996;Traas et al, 2004;Halstead et al, 2014) and field surveys (Chung, Wallace & Grubaugh, 1993;Triebskorn et al, 2003;Malaj et al, 2014). In the last decade, new indices of community response have been proposed specifically to detect pesticide pollution (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gene‐to‐ecosystem impacts of a catastrophic pesticide spill: testing a multilevel bioassessment approach in a river ecosystem

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARY1. Pesticides can have strong deleterious impacts in fresh waters, but understanding how these effects cascade through natural ecosystems, from microbes to apex predators, is limited because research that spans multiple levels of biological organisation is rare. 2. We report how an accidental insecticide spill altered the structure and functioning of a river across levels ranging from genes to ecosystems. We quantified the impacts on assemblages of microbes, diatoms, macroinvertebrates and fish and measured leaf-litter decomposition rates and microbial functional potential at upstream control and downstream impacted sites 2 months after the spill. 3. Both direct and indirect impacts were evident across multiple levels of organisation and taxa, from the base of the food web to higher trophic levels. At the molecular level, differences in functional gene abundance within the impacted sites reflected a combination of direct and indirect effects of the pesticide, via elevated abundances of microbial populations capable of using chlorpyrifos as a resource (i.e. direct effect) and oxidising ammonia released by decaying macroinvertebrate carcasses (i.e. indirect effect). 4. At the base of the food chains, diatom taxa found only in the impacted sites were an order-ofmagnitude larger in cell size than the largest comparable taxa in control communities, following the near extirpation of their consumers. Population biomass of the key detritivore Gammarus pulex was markedly lower, as was the rate of litter decomposition in the impacted sites. This was partially compensated for, however, by elevated microbial breakdown, suggesting another indirect food-web effect of the toxic spill. 5. Although many species exhibited population crashes or local extirpation, total macroinvertebrate biomass and abundance were largely unaffected due to a compensatory elevation in small tolerant taxa such as oligochaetes, and/or taxa which were in their adult aerial life stage at the time of the spill (e.g. chironomids) and thus avoided contact with the polluted waters and were able to repopulate the river quickly. Mass-abundance scaling of trophic links between consumers and resources revealed extensive restructuring within the food web. 6. This case study shows that pesticides can affect food-web structure and ecosystem functioning, both directly and indirectly across levels of biological organisation. It also demonstrates how an integrated assessment approach, as adopted here, can elucidate links between microbiota,

show abstract

“…strength of association, coherence, consistency, temporality, and plausibility) are met. Therefore, solid evidence for a causal relationship between the establishment of additional activated carbon-based wastewater treatment and an improvement in biota and ecosystem health within a rather short period of time is provided (methodology described by Triebskorn et al [70], and Swaen and van Amelsvoort [71]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Freshwater ecosystems profit from activated carbon-based wastewater treatment across various levels of biological organisation in a short timeframe

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Wastewater treatment plants are known as major sources for the release of micropollutants and bacteria into surface waters. To reduce this contaminant and microbial input, new technologies for effluent treatment have become available. The present paper reports the chemical, microbiological, biochemical, and biological effects of upgrading a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) with a powdered activated carbon stage in the catchment area of the Schussen River, the largest German tributary of Lake Constance. Data were obtained prior to and after the upgrade between 2011 and 2017. Results: After the upgrading, the release of antibiotic resistant and non-resistant bacteria, micropollutants, and their effect potentials was significantly lower in the effluent. In addition, in the Schussen River downstream of the wastewater treatment plant, reduced concentrations of micropollutants were accompanied by both a significantly improved health of fish and invertebrates, along with a better condition of the macrozoobenthic community. Conclusions: The present study clearly provides evidence for the causality between a WWTP upgrade by powdered activated carbon and ecosystem improvement and demonstrates the promptness of positive ecological changes in response to such action. The outcome of this study urgently advocates an investment in further wastewater treatment as a basis for decreasing the release of micropollutants and both resistant and non-resistant bacteria into receiving water bodies and, as a consequence, to sustainably protect river ecosystem health and drinking water resources for mankind in the future.

show abstract

Establishing Causality between Pollution and Effects at Different Levels of Biological Organization: The VALIMAR Project

Cited by 23 publications

References 19 publications

Monitoring pollution in River Mureş, Romania, part II: Metal accumulation and histopathology in fish

Monitoring pollution in River Mureş, Romania, part II: Metal accumulation and histopathology in fish

Gene‐to‐ecosystem impacts of a catastrophic pesticide spill: testing a multilevel bioassessment approach in a river ecosystem

Freshwater ecosystems profit from activated carbon-based wastewater treatment across various levels of biological organisation in a short timeframe

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About