Realistic exposure of the fungicide bixafen in soil and its toxicity and risk to natural earthworm populations after multiyear use in cereal

Ernst, Gregor; Agert, Jutta; Heinemann, Oliver; Hellpointner, Eduard; Gladbach, Anja

doi:10.1002/ieam.4510

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…(2019) exceeded the maximum individual worm weight used in the zero-variate data ( Table 1 ; Lofs-Holmin, 1983) and other studies (e.g. Ernst et al ., 2022 ). We thus allowed the scaled functional response for this experiment to exceed a maximum value of 1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Integrating earthworm movement and life history through dynamic energy budgets

Gergs

Rakel²,

Bussen³

et al. 2022

Conservation Physiology

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Earthworms are considered ecosystem engineers and, as such, they are an integral part of the soil ecosystem. The movement of earthworms is significantly influenced by environmental factors such as temperature and soil properties. As movement may directly be linked to food ingestion, especially of endogeic species like Aporrectodea caliginosa, changes in those environmental factors also affect life history traits such as growth and reproduction.In our laboratory studies, earthworms showed a decrease in burrowing activity with decreasing moisture levels and, to some extent, the organic matter content. The burrowing activity of earthworms was also affected by temperature, for which the casts produced per earthworm was used as a proxy in laboratory experiments. We integrated changes in earthworm movement and life histories in response to temperature, soil organic matter content and the moisture level, as observed in our experiment and reported in the literature, through dynamic energy budget (DEB) modelling. The joint parametrization of a DEB model for A. caliginosa based on movement and life history data revealed that food ingestion via movement is an integral part of the earthworms’ energy budgets. Our findings highlight the importance of soil properties to be considered in the model development for earthworms. Furthermore, by understanding and incorporating the effect of environmental factors on the physiology, this mechanistic approach can help assess the impact of environmental changes such as temperature rise or drought.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Integrating earthworm movement and life history through dynamic energy budgets

Gergs

Rakel²,

Bussen³

et al. 2022

Conservation Physiology

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“…From this work, median effect concentration (EC 50 ) values for total earthworm abundance at one and 12 months after application were defined as 1.089 and 9.441 kg a.i./ha, respectively. Other studies (Daniels et al, 2020;Ernst et al, 2021) also found effects in the field at rates that ranged from 6 to 10 kg carbendazim/ha.…”

Section: Risk Assessment Scheme Validation and Risk Triggersmentioning

confidence: 84%

Applying a tiered environmental risk assessment framework to estimate the risk of pesticides to soil organisms in Latin America

Osório

Cione

Casallanovo

et al. 2022

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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This work investigates the application of a tiered risk assessment scheme for soil organisms based on the risk quotient (RQ) and the toxicity exposure ratio (TER). Forty-five pesticides registered in Latin America were chosen and the ecotoxicological endpoints for earthworms, Collembola, and microorganisms were collated. Tier I assessment was made on conservative assumptions in which no refinements were applied. There, 14 pesticides (31%) exceed the RQ regulatory trigger indicating unacceptable risk, whereas 27 (60%) indicate unacceptable risk on the TER approach. In a Tier II evaluation when refinement options such as foliar interception, field half-life, and the dissipation following the peak estimated environmental concentration are considered, eight (18%) pesticides indicate unacceptable risk based on the RQ, and 15 (33%) indicate unacceptable risk based on the TER. A nonmetric multidimensional scaling evaluation was performed to understand the relevant characteristics involved in how each pesticide poses a risk to soil organisms. Based on the outcome of this analysis, we observed that, for a given pesticide, the combination of high persistence, low or no crop interception, and high toxicity are likely to require higher tier risk assessment. Refinement options can consider either or both the exposure and/or the effect side of the framework. Exposure refinements are potentially simpler and can be conducted with data already available to risk assessors, whereas effect refinements involving further testing with the organisms potentially at risk are still under discussion for intermediate and higher tiers. A sensitive, simple, and logical environmental risk assessment framework can be used to adequately identify risks based on the relevant protection goals that, in turn, will help to protect the desired soil multifunctionality of the ecosystem. We encourage academia and industry to further investigate these topics to provide the most scientifically robust and evidence-based information to decision makers.

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