engleski

Life History Traits of Aquatic Insects Determine Bioaccumulation and Transfer of Emerging Contaminants From Aquatic to Terrestrial Ecosystems

A wide range of emerging contaminants (ECs) such as pharmaceuticals (PhACs) and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) enter freshwaters globally. These can be transported from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems through food webs and emergence of aquatic insects. Thus, understanding their impacts on both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems remains a major challenge. Accordingly, the aim of the current study was to provide novel insights into bioaccumulation of ECs in freshwaters, as well as aquatic-terrestrial food web coupling. We examine differences of bioaccumulation and bioamplification of PhACs and EDCs in aquatic insects with different life history traits, namely, the holometabolous Trichoptera and hemimetabolous Odonata. We show that the type of insect metamorphosis and feeding behaviour determine the bioaccumulation patterns of ECs. Adult Trichoptera, an important food source for riparian predators, showed an increased body burden of both, PhACs and EDCs. Moreover, we further examine differences at finer taxonomic resolution, i.e. between the two suborders of Odonata, Anisoptera and Zygoptera. Results show similar trends in total ECs concentrations and of individual compounds for both suborders, being mostly higher in nymphs compared to adults. However, some compounds show significantly higher bioaccumulation factors in Zygoptera. Our results suggest that ecological traits of aquatic insects have an important contribution on bioaccumulation and bioamplification of ECs, thus highlighting the necessity for conducting taxon- and trait-specific research.

pharmaceuticals ; endocrine disruptors ; bioaccumulation ; biomagnification ; Odonata

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