Impact of heavy metal pollution on plants and leaf-miners

Abstract

Large-scale effects of diffuse heavy metals pollution on terrestrial ecosystems are still underestimated. We studied the relation between the biodiversity of vascular plants and the feeding Lepidoptera, in our case leafminers and pollinating adult butterflies, in a Dutch nature reserve over a period of five years. We found that 5% of the 56 plants species which provide food and habitat to Microlepidoptera during their larval stage were affected by heavy metal pollution. Furthermore, the numerical abundance of leaf-mining larvae remained rather constant, despite of significant increases of the concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni and Zn pollutants in leaves and litter.

Bioavailability of heavy metals and their effects on the midgut cells of a phytopaghous insect inhabiting volcanic environments

“…Thus, it is important to look for organisms that can be used as biological indicators or sentinels for the presence of those pollutants under such conditions, and in which one can rapidly measure several biomarkers of exposure and/or effects. The relationship between the accumulation of metals and their biomagnification in edible plants, insects, such as Lepidoptera larvae, and higher consumers, such as predators, has been shown in recent studies (Vickerman and Trumble, 2003;Dauwe et al, 2004;Mulder and Breure, 2006). Such studies indicate the important role of insects as links in metal transport …”

Spatial variability in the level of infestation of the leaves of horse chestnut by the horse chestnut leaf miner, Cameraria ohridella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) and in the number of adult moths and parasitoids emerging from leaf litter in an urban environment

“…The proximity to a busy road and railway line is likely to result in a high concentration of heavy metals in the horse chestnut tree (Aksoy & Ugur, 1999;Yilmaz et al, 2006). This may weaken the tree making it less resistant to C. ohridella although no direct effect of the concentration of heavy metals on the abundance of other leaf-mining larvae has been confi rmed (Mulder & Breure, 2006). Combination of negative abiotic factors and damage infl icted by C. ohridella can escalate the effect of infestation on premature leaf shedding (Freise & Heitland, 2001) as is reported occurring in "Nádražní Street" in previous years .…”

Are cadmium, lead and mercury concentrations in mosses across Europe primarily determined by atmospheric deposition of these metals?

“…Atmospheric deposition of heavy metals can pollute soils and sediments and can have severe ecological impacts such as bioaccumulation or loss of biodiversity (AleksanderKwaterczak and Helios-Rybicka 2009; Morvan et al 2008;Mulder and Breure 2006;Norr and Riepert 2007). Therefore, deposition measurements are key to soil monitoring ) and are needed for spatial estimations of soil contamination through atmospheric deposition (Zheng et al 2008).…”