engleski

The Impacts of Increased Temperature and Pollution on the Biological Functions of Two Caddisflies Species Drusus croaticus and Allogamus uncatus

Aquatic ecosystems worldwide are increasingly exposed to both natural and anthropogenic stressors. Climate change-related alterations, like changes in temperature patterns of surface waters, are often linked with chemical pollution from different sources (e.g., surface runoff, discharge of both raw and treated wastewater, industrial waste disposal, etc.). Such a combination of stressors may have ecological and biological impacts on aquatic organisms such as freshwater insects which perform various important ecological functions in freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. The main goals of the study were to: i) identify the potential impacts of multiple stressors (increased temperature and chemical contamination) on metabolomic and lipidomic profiles of two ecologically different species of caddisfly larvae, ii) analyze their behaviour expressed as locomotor activity (i.e., distance moved), and iii) evaluate the potential biological and ecological risk of climate change together with emerging contaminants. To simulate the environmental complexity of multiple stressors in laboratory conditions, we exposed caddisflies larvae Drusus croaticus and Allogamus uncatus separately to a cocktail of emerging contaminants in environmentally relevant concentrations of 500 ng, at optimal (8 °C) increased (12°C) temperature for 21 days. The cocktail included: i) psychoactive pharmaceuticals - fluoxetine, sertraline ; ii) beta-blocker - sotalolol ; iii) alkaloid - caffeine ; iv) anticonvulsant - carbamazepine ; v) antibiotic/macrolide - azithromycin ; vi) industrial antioxidant - diphenylamine (DPA) ; vii) plasticizer - tributoxy ethyl phosphate (TBEP), and viii) nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug ketoprofen. Preliminary results suggest both species of caddisflies showed decreased locomotor activity when exposed to a higher temperature (12 °C), before exposure to the cocktail of emerging contaminants. After exposure to the cocktail of emerging contaminants, both species exhibited differences in locomotor activity, most apparent on day 21: D. croaticus showed increased locomotor activity at 8 °C and decreased locomotor activity at 12 °C, while A. uncatus showed decreased locomotor activity at both temperatures compared to controls. Based on preliminary results of locomotor activity analyses, we concluded that multiple stressors may contribute to a disruption of natural behaviour, which could potentially lead to higher susceptibility of caddisflies to predation.

Trichoptera ; Multiple stressors

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