Interactive effects of xenobiotic, abiotic and biotic stressors on Daphnia pulex—Results from a multiple stressor experiment with a fractional multifactorial design

Divergent phenotypic responses to predators and cyanobacteria in Daphnia lumholtzi

“…Much research has explored the combined effects of multiple environmental stressors on the fitness of organisms (Heugens et al 2006;Boone et al, 2007;Coors & De Meester, 2008;Pauwels et al, 2010;Yin et al, 2011;Scherer et al, 2013). This body of work includes several studies that have also explored the influence of food stress and predator exposure on the expression of lifehistory traits (Walls, 1997;Anholt, Werner & Skelly, 2000;Stoks, 2001;Mikolajewski et al, 2005;Pauwels et al, 2010).…”

“…They provide a source of nutrition for both vertebrate and invertebrate predators and are important consumers of phytoplankton (Moss, 2010). Daphnia are well known to respond phenotypically to a variety of environmental stressors by modifying characteristics such as morphological defences and life-history traits (Black & Dodson, 1990;Spitze, 1992;Stibor, 1992;Weider & Pijanowska, 1993;Boersma, Spaak & De Meester, 1998;Riessen, 1999;Dao et al, 2010;Scherer et al, 2013;Bednarska, Pietrzak & Pijanowska, 2014). For instance, Daphnia typically respond to the threat of gape-limited invertebrate predators by producing defensive spines, growing faster, delaying maturation and producing smaller clutches of offspring (Riessen, 1999).…”

Progressive acclimation alters interaction between salinity and temperature in experimental Daphnia populations

“…This loss of temperature-dependence due to past environmental conditions is a complex interaction scenario, which was observed both in acute and chronic endpoints, although much more consistently in the latter (juvenile growth assays). As emphasized by other authors (Jansen et al, 2011;Seeland et al, 2012;Scherer et al, 2013), such interactive and potentially confounding scenarios -using multiple stress factors and considering the influence of environmental context -must be taken into account in extrapolations and predictions used in the risk assessment of stressors, especially under a climate change framework (Noyes et al, 2009). The interaction between temperature and salinity has been studied previously with cladocerans (Hall and Burns, 2002;Brucet et al, 2009;Ismail et al, 2011;Chen and Stillman, 2012).…”

“…Again, this emphasizes the need to build comprehensive frameworks for the risk assessment of chemicals, including those that may occur naturally or as a consequence of climate change (e.g., salinisation). This includes designing experiments accounting for acclimation (Chen and Stillman, 2012; this study) and adaptation to stress (Lopes et al, 2005;Jansen et al, 2011), interactions between environmental factors and contaminants (Antunes et al, 2004;Tassou and Schulz, 2012), interactions among contaminants (Leitão et al, 2013;Santos et al, 2013), and interactive scenarios with biotic relationships (Loureiro et al, 2013b;Scherer et al, 2013) -see also review by Fischer et al (2013) and the rationale for the multifactorial design of Scherer et al (2013).…”

Immediate and mid-term effects of pyrimethanil toxicity on microalgae by simulating an episodic contamination

“…For the cladocera Daphnia magna the 96 h-LC 50 (lethal concentration to 50% of exposed organisms) was 2.9 mg L À1 , and the no observed effect concentration (NOEC) on reproduction after 21 d exposure was 0.9 mg L À1 (EFSA, 2006); and for Daphnia pulex the reproduction EC 50 was 0.69 mg L À1 and the NOEC was 0.015 mg L À1 (Scherer et al, 2013). Regarding aquatic insects, the NOEC of pyrimethanil for the non-biting midge Chironomus riparius was 4 mg L À1 and the EC 50 for the phantom midge Chaoborus flavicans was 1.78 mg L À1 (Scherer et al, 2013). Within the similar pyrimethanil range, the oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus revealed a NOEC of 4 mg L À1 with respect to reproduction and the snail Physella acuta presented embryo LC 50 of 0.402 mg L À1 .…”