Pharmaceutical Pollution Alters the Structure of Freshwater Communities and Hinders Their Recovery from a Fish Predator.
Environ Sci Technol
; 58(31): 13904-13917, 2024 Aug 06.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39049184
ABSTRACT
Freshwater ecosystems are under threat from rising pharmaceutical pollution. While such pollutants are known to elicit biological effects on organisms, we have limited knowledge on how these effects might cascade through food-webs, disrupt ecological processes, and shape freshwater communities. In this study, we used a mesocosm experiment to explore how the community impacts of a top-order predator, the eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), are mediated by exposure to environmentally relevant low (measured concentration â¼10 ng/L) and high concentrations (â¼110 ng/L) of the pervasive pharmaceutical pollutant fluoxetine. We found no evidence that exposure to fluoxetine altered the consumptive effects of mosquitofish on zooplankton. However, once mosquitofish were removed from the mesocosms, zooplankton abundance recovered to a greater extent in control mesocosms compared to both low and high fluoxetine-exposed mesocosms. By the end of the experiment, this resulted in fundamental differences in community structure between the control and fluoxetine-treated mesocosms. Specifically, the control mesocosms were characterized by higher zooplankton abundances and lower algal biomass, whereas mesocosms exposed to either low or high concentrations of fluoxetine had lower zooplankton abundances and higher algal biomass. Our results suggest that fluoxetine, even at very low concentrations, can alter aquatic communities and hinder their recovery from disturbances.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Water Pollutants, Chemical
/
Zooplankton
/
Fresh Water
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Environ Sci Technol
/
Environ. sci. technol
/
Environmental science & technology
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Australia
Country of publication:
Estados Unidos