Impact of pesticides on marine coral reef foraminifera
- Author(s)
- Michael Lintner, Michael Schagerl, Bianca Lintner, Wolfgang Wanek, Jan Golen, Jaroslaw Tyszka, Petra Heinz
- Abstract
Our laboratory study looked into how pesticides affect the foraminifera species Heterostegina depressa and their obligatory algal endosymbionts. We incubated the foraminifera separately with different types of pesticides at varying concentrations (1 %, 0.01 % and 0.0001 %); we included the insecticide Confidor© (active substance: imidacloprid), the fungicide Pronto©Plus (tebuconazole), and the herbicide Roundup© (glyphosate). Our evaluation focused on the symbiont's photosynthetically active area (PA), and the uptake of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and nitrogen (nitrate) to determine the vitality of the foraminifera. Our findings showed that even the lowest doses of the fungicide and herbicide caused irreparable damage to the foraminifera and their symbionts. While the insecticide only deactivated the symbionts (PA = 0) at the highest concentration (1 %), the fungicide, and herbicide caused complete deactivation even at the lowest levels provided (0.0001 %). The fungicide had the strongest toxic effect on the foraminiferal host regarding reduced isotope uptake. In conclusion, all pesticides had a negative impact on the holosymbiont, with the host showing varying degrees of sensitivity towards different types of pesticides.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Palaeontology, Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science
- External organisation(s)
- Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS)
- Journal
- Marine Pollution Bulletin
- Volume
- 201
- No. of pages
- 7
- ISSN
- 0025-326X
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116237
- Publication date
- 03-2024
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 106026 Ecosystem research, 106022 Microbiology
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pollution, Aquatic Science, Oceanography
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 14 - Life Below Water
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/impact-of-pesticides-on-marine-coral-reef-foraminifera(692f5c3a-7ff9-4e4a-a50a-b6afe05ed702).html