The toxicity thresholds of metal(loid)s to soil-dwelling springtail Folsomia candida-A review.

ABSTRACT

Increasing concentrations of metals in soil have posed a serious threat to the soil environment. The control and evaluation of soil metal hazards demand the establishment of soil ecological criteria, which is mainly based on the obtainment of toxicity thresholds. As the most typical representative of soil-dwelling springtails, Folsomia candida performs numerous essential ecological functions in soil and has been extensively used to investigate metal toxicity effects and thresholds. This review outlined the current state of knowledge on the metal toxicity thresholds to Folsomia candida, including (1) toxicity thresholds of soil metals for the different endpoints, (2) the influence factors of metal toxicity thresholds including the test conditions, the chemical forms of metal, the soil physicochemical properties, aging time and leaching, (3) the bioavailable fractions predicting metal toxicity thresholds, (4) the internal threshold of metals. To conclude, several recommendations for future research are given to obtain the more reliable toxicity thresholds and further supplement the toxicity data of metals to Folsomia candida.