| 1. |
- Rydberg, Johan, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
-
Climate driven release of carbon and mercury from permafrost mires increases mercury loading to sub-arctic lakes
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 408:20, s. 4778-4783
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In sub-arctic and arctic regions mercury is an element of concern for both wildlife and humans. Over thousands of years large amounts of atmospherically deposited mercury, both from natural and anthropogenic sources, have been sequestered together with carbon in northern peatlands. Many of these peatlands are currently underlain by permafrost, which controls mire stability and hydrology. With the ongoing climate change there is concern that permafrost thawing will turn large areas of these northern peatlands from carbon/mercury-sinks into much wetter carbon/mercury-sources. Here we can show that such a change in mire structure in the sub-arctic Stordalen mire in northern Sweden actually is responsible for an increased export of mercury to the adjacent lake Inre Harrsjön. We also show that sediment mercury accumulation rates during a warm period in the pre-industrial past were higher than in the 1970s when atmospheric input peaked, indicating that in areas with permafrost, climate can have an effect on mercury loading to lakes as large as anthropogenic emissions. Thawing of permafrost and the subsequent export of carbon is a widespread phenomenon, and the projection is that it will increase even more in the near future. Together with our observations from Stordalen, this makes northern peatlands into a substantial source of mercury, at risk of being released into sensitive arctic freshwater and marine systems.
|
|
| 2. |
- Alewell, C, et al.
(författare)
-
Stable carbon isotopes as indicators for micro-geomorphic changes in palsa peats
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Biogeosciences Discussions. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1810-6277 .- 1810-6285. ; 8:1, s. 527-548
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Palsa peats are unique northern ecosystems formed under an arctic climate and characterizedby an unique biodiversity and ecology. The stability of the palsas are seriouslythreatened by climate warming which will change the permafrost dynamic and5 results in degradation of the mires. We used stable carbon isotope depth profiles intwo palsa mires of Northern Sweden to track environmental change during the formationof the mires. Carbon isotope (13C) depth profile of the yet undisturbed mireStorflaket indicated very low to no degradation of the peat in the water saturated depressions(hollows) but increased rates of anaerobic degradation at the Stordalen site.10 The latter might be induced by degradation of the permafrost cores in the uplifted areas(hummocks) and subsequent braking and submerging of the hummock peat intothe hollows due to climate warming. Carbon isotope depth profiles of hummocks indicateda turn from aerobic mineralisation to anaerobic degradation at a peat depthbetween 4 to 25 cm. The age of these turning point was 14C dated between 150 and15 670 years and could thus not be caused by anthropogenically induced climate change.We found the uplifting of the hummocks due to permafrost heave the most likely explanationfor our findings. We thus concluded that differences in carbon isotope profiles ofthe hollows might point to the disturbance of the mires due to climate warming or dueto differences in hydrology. The characteristic profiles of the hummocks are indicators20 for micro-geomorphic change during permafrost up heaving.
|
|
| 3. |
- Berglund, Åsa, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of reduced lead deposition on Pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) : tracing exposure routes using stable lead Isotopes
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Environmental Science and Technology. - : American Chemical Society. - 0013-936X .- 1520-5851. ; 43:1, s. 208-213
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To what extent the lead burden of birds living in strongly contaminated ecosystems is responding to decreased atmospheric lead deposition is not well known. In this study, we measured lead concentrations and stable lead isotope ratios (206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/207Pb) in liver and feces from pied flycatcher nestlings (Ficedula hypoleuca) along a 90 km pollution gradient from the Rönnskär smelter in northern Sweden. Changes in lead concentration in the birds from 1984 to 2006 were used for assessing the recovery of the environment following reduced lead emissions at the smelter. The 206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/207Pb ratios were used to identify lead sources to the birds. Lead concentrations in liver and feces have decreased since the 1980s, typically by 9−15% (liver) and 18−40% (feces) as a result of a 98% emission reduction. This relatively weak recovery is explained by a transfer of old lead contaminants accumulated in soil to the birds via their prey, which was evident by a 206Pb/207Pb ratio in liver tissue (1.15 ± 0.01) that overlapped with the ratio in ants (1.16 ± 0.01) and organic soil horizon (1.17 ± 0.01) rather than the current atmospheric lead pollution (1.11 ± 0.01). Our findings suggest that insectivorous birds living around smelters may remain contaminated decades after ceased emissions.
|
|
| 4. |
- Blume-Werry, Gesche, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
-
Ideas and perspectives : Alleviation of functional limitations by soil organisms is key to climate feedbacks from arctic soils
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Biogeosciences. - : Copernicus Publications. - 1726-4170 .- 1726-4189. ; 20:10, s. 1979-1990
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Arctic soils play an important role in Earth's climate system, as they store large amounts of carbon that, if released, could strongly increase greenhouse gas levels in our atmosphere. Most research to date has focused on how the turnover of organic matter in these soils is regulated by abiotic factors, and few studies have considered the potential role of biotic regulation. However, arctic soils are currently missing important groups of soil organisms, and here, we highlight recent empirical evidence that soil organisms' presence or absence is key to understanding and predicting future climate feedbacks from arctic soils. We propose that the arrival of soil organisms into arctic soils may introduce novel functions, resulting in increased rates of, for example, nitrification, methanogenesis, litter fragmentation, or bioturbation, and thereby alleviate functional limitations of the current community. This alleviation can greatly enhance decomposition rates, in parity with effects predicted due to increasing temperatures. We base this argument on a series of emerging experimental evidence suggesting that the dispersal of until-then absent micro-, meso-, and macroorganisms (i.e. from bacteria to earthworms) into new regions and newly thawed soil layers can drastically affect soil functioning. These new observations make us question the current view that neglects organism-driven alleviation effects when predicting future feedbacks between arctic ecosystems and our planet's climate. We therefore advocate for an updated framework in which soil biota and the functions by which they influence ecosystem processes become essential when predicting the fate of soil functions in warming arctic ecosystems.
|
|
| 5. |
- Blume-Werry, Gesche, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
-
Invasive earthworms unlock arctic plant nitrogen limitation
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Arctic plant growth is predominantly nitrogen (N) limited. This limitation is generally attributed to slow soil microbial processes due to low temperatures. Here, we show that arctic plant-soil N cycling is also substantially constrained by the lack of larger detritivores (earthworms) able to mineralize and physically translocate litter and soil organic matter. These new functions provided by earthworms increased shrub and grass N concentration in our common garden experiment. Earthworm activity also increased either the height or number of floral shoots, while enhancing fine root production and vegetation greenness in heath and meadow communities to a level that exceeded the inherent differences between these two common arctic plant communities. Moreover, these worming effects on plant N and greening exceeded reported effects of warming, herbivory and nutrient addition, suggesting that human spreading of earthworms may lead to substantial changes in the structure and function of arctic ecosystems. Arctic plant growth is predominantly nitrogen limited, where the slow nitrogen turnover in the soil is commonly attributed to the cold arctic climate. Here the authors show that the arctic plant-soil nitrogen cycling is also constrained by the lack of larger detritivores like earthworms.
|
|
| 6. |
- Bottone, Anna, et al.
(författare)
-
Sodium hypochlorite as an oxidizing agent for removal of soil organic matter before microplastics analyses
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Quality. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0047-2425 .- 1537-2537. ; 51:1, s. 112-122
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The omnipresence of microplastics (MPs) across Earth's surface has raised concerns about their environmental impact and created an urgent need for methods to identify them in complex soil and sedimentary matrices. However, detecting MPs in the O horizons of soils is difficult because plastic polymers share many physical and chemical properties with natural soil organic matter (SOM). In this study, we assessed whether sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), a reagent that can oxidize SOM and simultaneously preserve mineral constituents, can be used for MP analysis and characterization in soil environments. In addition, we scrutinized how factors such as MP size, polymer type, extraction methods, and soil matrix affect the recovery of microplastic particles. We used both hydrophobic and density-dependent separation methods to assess the effects of our oxidation treatment on the recovery of MP. We observed that NaOCl effectively removed SOM without greatly altering the surface properties of resistant MP polymers (polypropylene, polylactic acid, low-density polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate), which were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy after SOM removal. The NaOCl treatment caused some chlorination and formation of additional C–OH bonds on polymer surfaces, which likely contributed to the reduced efficiency of the hydrophobic-based (oil) extraction. We conclude that NaOCl treatment can improve detection of MPs in SOM-rich soil and that recovery of MPs from soils is influenced by MP size, polymer type, extraction method, and soil type, which makes it challenging to develop a universal analytical method.
|
|
| 7. |
- Cerveny, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
-
Exposure via biotransformation : oxazepam reaches predicted pharmacological effect levels in European perch after exposure to temazepam
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. - : Academic Press. - 0147-6513 .- 1090-2414. ; 217
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is generally expected that biotransformation and excretion of pharmaceuticals occurs similarly in fish and mammals, despite significant physiological differences. Here, we exposed European perch (Perca fluviatilis) to the benzodiazepine drug temazepam at a nominal concentration of 2 µg L−1 for 10 days. We collected samples of blood plasma, muscle, and brain in a time-dependent manner to assess its bioconcentration, biotransformation, and elimination over another 10 days of depuration in clean water. We observed rapid pharmacokinetics of temazepam during both the exposure and depuration periods. The steady state was reached within 24 h of exposure in most individuals, as was complete elimination of temazepam from tissues during depuration. Further, the biologically active metabolite oxazepam was produced via fish biotransformation, and accumulated significantly throughout the exposure period. In contrast to human patients, where a negligible amount of oxazepam is created by temazepam biotransformation, we observed a continuous increase of oxazepam concentrations in all fish tissues throughout exposure. Indeed, oxazepam accumulated more than its parent compound, did not reach a steady state during the exposure period, and was not completely eliminated even after 10 days of depuration, highlighting the importance of considering environmental hazards posed by pharmaceutical metabolites.
|
|
| 8. |
- Cerveny, D., et al.
(författare)
-
Water temperature affects the biotransformation and accumulation of a psychoactive pharmaceutical and its metabolite in aquatic organisms
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Environment International. - : Elsevier. - 0160-4120 .- 1873-6750. ; 155
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) have been shown to accumulate in aquatic and riparian food-webs. Yet, our understanding of how temperature, a key environmental factor in nature, affects uptake, biotransformation, and the subsequent accumulation of PhACs in aquatic organisms is limited. In this study, we tested to what extent bioconcentration of an anxiolytic drugs (temazepam and oxazepam) is affected by two temperature regimes (10 and 20 °C) and how the temperature affects the temazepam biotransformation and subsequent accumulation of its metabolite (oxazepam) in aquatic organisms. We used European perch (Perca fluviatilis) and dragonfly larvae (Sympetrum sp.), which represent predator and prey species of high ecological relevance in food chains of boreal and temperate aquatic ecosystems. Experimental organisms were exposed to target pharmaceuticals at a range of concentrations (0.2–6 µg L−1) to study concentration dependent differences in bioconcentration and biotransformation. We found that the bioconcentration of temazepam in perch was significantly reduced at higher temperatures. Also, temperature had a strong effect on temazepam biotransformation in the fish, with the production and subsequent accumulation of its metabolite (oxazepam) being two-fold higher at 20 °C compared to 10 °C. In contrast, we found no temperature dependency for temazepam bioconcentration in dragonfly larvae and no detectable biotransformation of the parent compound that would result in measurable concentrations of oxazepam in this organism. Our results highlight that while organisms may share the same aquatic ecosystem, their exposure to PhACs may change differently across temperature gradients in the environment.
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
- Fahlman, Johan, et al.
(författare)
-
Impacts of Oxazepam on Perch (Perca fluviatilis) Behavior : Fish Familiarized to Lake Conditions Do Not Show Predicted Anti-anxiety Response
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Environmental Science and Technology. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0013-936X .- 1520-5851. ; 55:6, s. 3624-3633
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A current theory in environmental science states that dissolved anxiolytics (oxazepam) from wastewater effluents can reduce anti-predator behavior in fish with potentially negative impacts on prey fish populations. Here, we hypothesize that European perch (Perca fluviatilis) populations being exposed to oxazepam in situ show reduced anti-predator behavior, which has previously been observed for exposed isolated fish in laboratory studies. We tested our hypothesis by exposing a whole-lake ecosystem, containing both perch (prey) and northern pike (Esox lucius; predator), to oxazepam while tracking fish behavior before and after exposure in the exposed lake as well as in an unexposed nearby lake (control). Oxazepam concentrations in the exposed lake ranged between 11 and 24 μg L-1, which is >200 times higher than concentrations reported for European rivers. In contrast to our hypothesis, we did not observe an oxazepam-induced reduction in anti-predator behavior, inferred from perch swimming activity, distance to predators, distance to conspecifics, home-range size, and habitat use. In fact, exposure to oxazepam instead stimulated anti-predator behavior (decreased activity, decreased distance to conspecifics, and increased littoral habitat use) when using behavior in the control lake as a reference. Shoal dynamics and temperature changes may have masked modest reductions in anti-predator behavior due to oxazepam. Although we cannot fully resolve the mechanism(s) behind our observations, our results indicate that the effects of oxazepam on perch behavior in a familiar natural ecosystem are negligible in comparison to the effects of other environmental conditions.
|
|
| 11. |
- Fahlman, Johan, 1988-
(författare)
-
The fate and effect of pharmaceuticals in boreal surface waters
- 2020
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Traces of pharmaceuticals are often found in streams, rivers, and lakes as the result of effluent water discharge. This dissertation aims to create a better understanding of the fate of drugs in aquatic ecosystems and how oxazepam, an anxiolytic pharmaceutical commonly detected in surface waters, affects the behavior of perch (Perca fluviatilis). To address these issues, I used a series of large-scale field experiments to evaluate predictions made in controlled laboratory experiments. My dissertation shows that small-scale incubations commonly used to assess the persistence of pharmaceuticals (trimethoprim, diclofenac, hydroxyzine, diphenhydramine and oxazepam) in aquatic environments effectively predicts the fate of dissolved drugs in freshwater during the first week of contamination. However, these experiments and the conceptual models failed to predict that pharmaceuticals can remain dissolved in freshwater for months. In addition, the results suggest that the drugs remain bioactive for months and that the uptake of different drugs varied widely between trophic levels. For example, benthic species generally had a higher affinity to accumulate the studied drugs than species in higher trophic levels; however, the anxiolytic drug oxazepam was found in perch. To test the effect of oxazepam on perch behavior, I used acoustic telemetry to track the perch in situ (i.e., in the ponds). The in situ behavior of perch correlated with laboratory behavior when findings from several trials were merged into multidimensional behavioral profiles of the studied individuals, although oxazepam did not conclusively affect perch behavior in line with earlier theories, when though concentrations were much higher than concentrations measured in any contaminated environments. I conclude that simplified laboratory experiments have some predictive power regarding the fate and effects of pharmaceuticals in complex natural ecosystems, but laboratory environments may underestimate persistence of drugs in aquatic ecosystems and fail to detect important social drivers of animal behavior in natural settings.
|
|
| 12. |
- Fahlman, Johan, et al.
(författare)
-
Using laboratory incubations to predict the fate of pharmaceuticals in aquatic ecosystems
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Environmental Chemistry. - : CSIRO Publishing. - 1448-2517 .- 1449-8979. ; 15:8, s. 463-471
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Environmental contextEnvironmental persistence of excreted pharmaceuticals in aquatic ecosystems is usually predicted using small-scale laboratory experiments assumed to simulate natural conditions. We studied five pharmaceuticals comparing their removal rates from water under laboratory conditions and under natural environmental conditions existing in a large pond. We found that the laboratory conditions did not fully capture the complexity within the pond, which led to different removal rates in the two systems. AbstractEnvironmental persistence is a key property when evaluating risks with excreted pharmaceuticals in aquatic ecosystems. Such persistence is typically predicted using small-scale laboratory incubations, but the variation in aquatic environments and scarcity of field studies to verify laboratory-based persistence estimates create uncertainties around the predictive power of these incubations. In this study we: (1) assess the persistence of five pharmaceuticals (diclofenac, diphenhydramine, hydroxyzine, trimethoprim and oxazepam) in laboratory experiments under different environmental conditions; and (2) use a three-month-long field study in an aquatic ecosystem to verify the laboratory-based persistence estimates. In our laboratory assays, we found that water temperature (TEMP), concentrations of organic solutes (TOC), presence of sediment (SED), and solar radiation (SOL) individually affected dissipation rates. Moreover, we identified rarely studied interaction effects between the treatments (i.e. SOLxSED and TEMPxSOL), which affected the persistence of the studied drugs. Half-lives obtained from the laboratory assays largely explained the dissipation rates during the first week of the field study. However, none of the applied models could accurately predict the long-term dissipation rates (month time-scale) from the water column. For example, the studied antibioticum (trimethoprim) and the anti-anxiety drug (oxazepam) remained at detectable levels in the aquatic environment long after (similar to 150 days) our laboratory based models predicted complete dissipation. We conclude that small-scale laboratory incubations seem sufficient to approximate the short-term (i.e. within a week) dissipation rate of drugs in aquatic ecosystems. However, this simplistic approach does not capture interacting environmental processes that preserve a fraction of the dissolved pharmaceuticals for months in natural water bodies.
|
|
| 13. |
- Ferro-Vázquez, C., et al.
(författare)
-
Comparing podzolization under different bioclimatic conditions
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Geoderma. - : Elsevier. - 0016-7061 .- 1872-6259. ; 377
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Silicate weathering and within soil redistribution of released metals are a near universal process believed to drive the formation of Podzols in various bioclimatic zones, ranging from tropical forest to Arctic environments. Yet the importance of climate and the fractionation of Al, Fe and Si in Podzols remains largely unknown. The aim of this study was to increase our understanding of climate-related variability in the podzolization mechanisms by conducing high-resolution chemical probing of seven soils in different bioclimatic zones and under different hydrological regimes: one well drained and one seasonally hydromorphic from the boreal zone (Sweden), two well-drained Podzols from a mild and humid area (NW Spain) and three, two poorly drained and one well drained soils, from the tropics (Brazil). The analytical strategy included seven selective dissolution techniques, in order to understand the distribution of Fe, Al and Si in organic (high, medium and low stability metal-OM complexes) and inorganic secondary compounds (short-range order and crystalline forms) in relation to their bioclimatic setting. Results indicate that the translocation of metals is coupled to the soil organic matter (SOM) mobilization in all three bioclimatic zones. The accumulation of metals and organic matter in the spodic horizons, in contrast, is contingent upon temperature, as well as on the local hydrological conditions and pH. Multivariate statistics allowed to identify the effect of climate, of soil hydrological conditions and of parent material in the soil vertical development. The high vertical resolution sampling and the extended fractionation employed were key for detecting the differences in Al, Fe and SOM dynamics in the studied soils, and revealed that different podzolization mechanisms are active in each bioclimatic zone.
|
|
| 14. |
|
|
| 15. |
- Hellström, Gustav, et al.
(författare)
-
Environmentally relevant concentrations of the common anxiolytic pharmaceutical oxazepam do not have acute effect on spawning behavior in mature male Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) parr
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Journal of Applied Ichthyology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0175-8659 .- 1439-0426. ; 36:1, s. 105-112
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Low concentrations of psychiatric drugs are commonly found in surface waters around the world, and their ability to alter behaviors in aquatic fauna has raised concerns about ecological effects. One critical effect that contamination can have in aquatic systems is modifications of reproductive behaviors. In this study, we hypothesized that oxazepam, a common anxiolytic drug and aquatic contaminant previously shown to induce anti-anxiety behavior in salmonids, also affects the reproductive behavior of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). To test this hypothesis, small sexually mature Atlantic salmon males (mature parr) were exposed to concentrations of oxazepam comparable to that of effluent water (1.9 mu g/L). After 5 days of exposure, their reproductive behavior was compared with that of unexposed control individuals. Behavior was monitored in a large-scale flume aquarium that also contained a large male and a female to mimic natural spawning conditions for Atlantic salmon. Three behaviors were quantified for the mature parr; (a) amount of courting behavior towards female, (b) proximity to female, and (c) amount of attacks received from the large male. In contrast to our hypothesis, no difference in either courting behavior, proximity to female, or received aggression could be found between exposed and control male parr. Hence, our results indicate that there is no acute effect of the highest levels of oxazepam concentration reported for urban environments on spawning behavior of mature male parr, although chronic effects could not be ruled out.
|
|
| 16. |
- Jerand, Philip, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
-
The legacy of ecological imperialism in the Scandes : earthworms and their implications for Arctic research
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine research. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1523-0430 .- 1938-4246. ; 55:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the nineteenth century, numerous settlements were established in the alpine region of Fennoscandia (the Scandes), an area that later became a major international scene for Arctic research. Here we raise awareness of this era and show that earthworm-driven bioturbation in “pristine” soils around contemporary Arctic research infrastructure is caused by soil fauna left behind during early land use. We use soil preserved under an alpine settlement to highlight that soils were not bioturbated when the first house was built at a site where bioturbation is now widespread. A review of archived material with unique site-specific chronology constrained the onset of bioturbation to the post-1871 era. Our results suggest that small-scale land use introduced earthworms that now thrive far beyond the realms of former cultivated fields. The legacy of soil fauna from this example of “ecological imperialism” still lingers and should be considered when studying soils of the Scandes.
|
|
| 17. |
|
|
| 18. |
- Jonsson, Hanna, et al.
(författare)
-
Cascading effects of earthworm invasion increase graminoid density and rodent grazing intensities
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Ecology. - : The Ecological Society of America. - 0012-9658 .- 1939-9170. ; 105:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human-mediated dispersal of non-native earthworms can cause substantial changes to the functioning and composition of ecosystems previously earthworm-free. Some of these earthworm species have the potential to “geoengineer” soils and increase plant nitrogen (N) uptake. Yet the possible consequences of increased plant N concentrations on rodent grazing remains poorly understood. In this study, we present findings from a common garden experiment with two tundra communities, meadow (forb dominated) and heath (shrub dominated), half of them subjected to 4 years of earthworm presence (Lumbricus spp. and Aporrectodea spp.). Within four summers, our earthworm treatment changed plant community composition by increasing graminoid density by, on average, 94% in the heath vegetation and by 49% in the meadow. Rodent winter grazing was more intense on plants growing in soils with earthworms, an effect that coincided with higher N concentrations in plants, indicating a higher palatability. Even though earthworms reduced soil moisture, plant community productivity, as indicated by vegetation greenness (normalized difference vegetation index), was not negatively impacted. We conclude that earthworm-induced changes in plant composition and trophic interactions may fundamentally alter the functioning of tundra ecosystems.
|
|
| 19. |
- Jonsson, Micael, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
-
Antihistamines and aquatic insects : Bioconcentration and impacts on behavior in damselfly larvae (Zygoptera)
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 472, s. 108-111
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Because aquatic insects use histamines as neurotransmitters, adverse impacts on aquatic insects living in aquatic environments that receive antihistamines with wastewater effluent are plausible. In this study, we exposed damselfly larvae to low concentrations of two commonly used antihistamines (Hydroxyzine and Fexofenadine, 360 +/- 42 and 2200 +/- 43 ng 1(-1), respectively), and recorded damselfly larvae behavior before and after exposure. Further, after the second set of behavioral assays was performed, we quantified bioconcentration of the antihistamines in the damselfly bodies. Our results showed significant changes in damselfly behavior following antihistamine exposure. After Hydroxyzine exposure, the damselfly larvae became less active, and they showed reduced fleeing response (i.e. increased boldness) after being exposed to Fexofenadine, the latter also being significantly different from the non-exposed (control) individuals. Further, we found high levels of bioconcentration in the damselflies; Hydroxyzine showed an average bioconcentration factor (BCF) of 2000. As such, our results indicate that low concentrations of antihistamines can have sub-lethal effects on aquatic insects manifested as behavioral changes, and that bioconcentration of these substances can be high. Therefore, the need to investigate the impact of emergent aquatic contaminants also on aquatic insects, and on behaviors that are of ecological importance, is further highlighted. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 20. |
- Jonsson, Micael, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of an antihistamine on carbon and nutrient recycling in streams
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 538, s. 240-245
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In stream ecosystems, microbes and macroinvertebrates consume leaf litter deposited from the riparian vegetation, and thereby recycle resources tied up in the litter. Several environmental variables influence rates of this recycling, but it is not well known if common pharmaceuticals, such as antihistamines, originating from waste-water effluent, have additional impacts. Exposure to dilute concentrations of antihistamines may adversely influence aquatic detritivorous invertebrates, because invertebrates use histamines for neurotransmission, resulting in hampered recycling of resource tied up in leaf detritus. In this study, we therefore investigated if the antihistamine fexofenadine, at a concentration of 2000 ng l(-1), alters rates of leaf litter decomposition in stream microcosms. Stonefly larvae (n = 10, per microcosm), together with natural microbial communities, served as main decomposer organisms on alder leaf litter. First, we used 30 microcosms containing fexofenadine, while the other 30 served as non-contaminated controls, and of each 30 microcosms, 14 contained stonefly larvae and microbes, while the remaining 16 contained only microbes. We found, in contrast to our hypothesis, that fexofenadine had no effect on leaf litter decomposition via impacts on the stonefly larvae. However, independent on if stoneflies were present or not, concentrations of organic carbon (TOC) and nitrogen (N) were strongly affected, with 20-26 and 24-31% lower concentrations of TOC and N, respectively, in the presence of fexofenadine. Second, in a scaled down follow-up experiment we found that microbial activity increased by 85%, resulting in a 10% decrease in pH, in the presence of fexofenadine. While the antihistamine concentration we used is higher than those thus far found in the field (1-10 ng l(-1)), it is still 100 times lower than the predicted no-effect concentration for fexofenadine. As such, our results indicate that low mu g l(-1) levels of antihistamines can have an effect on carbon and nutrient recycling in aquatic system. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 21. |
- Jonsson, Micael, et al.
(författare)
-
High-speed imaging reveals how antihistamine exposure affects escape behaviours in aquatic insect prey
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 648, s. 1257-1262
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aquatic systems receive a wide range of pharmaceuticals that may have adverse impacts on aquatic wildlife. Among these pharmaceuticals, antihistamines are commonly found, and these substances have the potential to influence the physiology of aquatic invertebrates. Previous studies have focused on how antihistamines may affect behaviours of aquatic invertebrates, but these studies probably do not capture the full consequences of antihistamine exposure, as traditional recording techniques do not capture important animal movements occurring at the scale of milliseconds, such as prey escape responses. In this study, we investigated if antihistamine exposure can impact escape responses in aquatic insect, by exposing damselfly (Coenagrion hastulatum) larvae to two environmentally relevant concentrations (0.1 and 1 μg L−1) of diphenhydramine. Importantly, we used a high-speed imaging approach that with high-time resolution captures details of escape responses and, thus, potential impacts of diphenhydramine on these behaviours. Our results show overall weak effects of antihistamine exposure on the escape behaviours of damselfly larvae. However, at stage 2 of the C-escape response, we found a significant increase in turning angle, which corresponds to a reduced swimming velocity, indicating a reduced success at evading a predator attack. Thus, we show that low concentrations of an antihistamine may affect behaviours strongly related to fitness of aquatic insect prey – effects would have been overlooked using traditional recording techniques. Hence, to understand the full consequences of pharmaceutical contamination on aquatic wildlife, high-speed imaging should be incorporated into future environmental risk assessments.
|
|
| 22. |
- Keen, Sara C., et al.
(författare)
-
Non-native species change the tune of tundra soils : novel access to soundscapes of the Arctic earthworm invasion
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 838
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Over the last decade, an increasing number of studies have used soundscapes to address diverse ecological questions. Sound represents one of the few sources of information capable of providing in situ insights into processes occurring within opaque soil matrices. To date, the use of soundscapes for soil macrofauna monitoring has been experimentally tested only in controlled laboratory environments. Here we assess the validity of laboratory predictions and explore the use of soil soundscape proxies for monitoring soil macrofauna (i.e., earthworm) activities in an outdoor context. In a common garden experiment in northern Sweden, we constructed outdoor mesocosm plots (N = 36) containing two different Arctic vegetation types (meadow and heath) and introduced earthworms to half of these plots. Earthworms substantially altered the ambient soil soundscape under both vegetation types, as measured by both traditional soundscape indices and frequency band power levels, although their acoustic impacts were expressed differently in heath versus meadow soils. While these findings support the as-of-yet untapped promise of using belowground soundscape analyses to monitor soil ecosystem health, direct acoustic emissions from earthworm activities appear to be an unlikely proxy for tracking worm activities at daily timescales. Instead, earthworms indirectly altered the soil soundscape by ‘re-engineering’ the soil matrix: an effect that was dependent on vegetation type. Our findings suggest that long-term (i.e., seasonal) earthworm activities in natural soil settings can likely be monitored indirectly via their impacts on soundscape measures and acoustic indices. Analyzing soil soundscapes may enable larger-scale monitoring of high-latitude soils and is directly applicable to the specific case of earthworm invasions within Arctic soils, which has recently been identified as a potential threat to the resilience of high-latitude ecosystems. Soil soundscapes could also offer a novel means to monitor soils and soil-plant-faunal interactions in situ across diverse pedogenic, agronomic, and ecological systems.
|
|
| 23. |
- Klaminder, Jonatan, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
-
Holes in the tundra : Invasive earthworms alter soil structure and moisture in tundra soils
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 859
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human introductions have resulted in earthworms establishing in the Arctic, species known to cause cascading ecosystem change. However, few quantitative outdoor experiments have been performed that describe how these soil modifying earthworms are reshaping structures in tundra soils. In this study, we used three-dimensional (3-D) X-ray images of soil cores (approximately 10 cm diameter, 20 cm height, N = 48) to assess how earthworms (Aporrectodea sp. and Lumbricus sp.) affect soil structure and macropore networks in an outdoor mesocosm experiment that lasted four summers. Effects were assessed in both shrub-dominated (heath) and herb-dominated (meadow) tundra. Earthworms almost doubled the macroporosity in meadow soils and tripled macroporosity in heath. Interestingly, the fractal dimension of macropores decreased in response to earthworm burrowing in both systems, indicating that the presence of earthworms reduced the geometric complexity in comparison to other pore-generating processes active in the tundra. Observed effects on soil structure occurred along with a dramatically reduced soil moisture content, which was observed the first winter after earthworm introduction in the meadow. Our findings suggest that predictions of future changes in vegetation and soil carbon pools in the Arctic should include major impacts on soil properties that earthworms induce.
|
|
| 24. |
- Klaminder, Jonatan, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
-
Landscape of ice and fire : uniquely well-preserved scots pine trunks reveal forest fires near the retreating weichselian ice margin
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 33, s. 519-527
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Environmental conditions for trees that established in central Fennoscandia shortly after the final retreat of the Weichselian ice sheet remain poorly understood. In this study we examine tree rings of five well-preserved Pinus sylvestris (Scots pines) that grew in the area in front of the retreating ice sheet in northern Sweden. They became buried in flood sediments deposited by a glacial outburst flood (jökulhlaup) about 9.5–9.9 kyr cal bp and the aim of our study was to search for information regarding damage from fires and bioclimatic conditions in their ancient tree ring records. Our analysis, providing a glimpse into the local early Holocene environment in north-central Sweden, suggests that: 1, there were repeated fires (four fire events detected) during the early Holocene; and 2, bioclimatic conditions when the ancient pines were growing resembled those of modern sub-alpine pine woods. The latter is indicated by their patterns of tree ring growth (growth rate and variation), which were statistically similar to those of pines growing in sub-alpine woods with an open canopy, but different from pines in protected and managed boreal forests. Lower δ13C for the ancient latewood in comparison to pine wood from trees growing near the Scandinavian mountains before the 1850s were probably caused both by stomata fractionation due to lower atmospheric CO2 during the early Holocene and by the moist local environment created by the nearby ancient Ancylus lake, which preceded the Baltic Sea. Periods with cloudy and cold summers were also indicated by the occurrence of ‘false rings’. Finds of charred fragments of Calluna vulgaris (heather, ling), an understory shrub that can burn even with a relatively high moisture content, suggest that heath vegetation was crucial to make fire a reoccurring ecological factor in the area during the early Holocene.
|
|
| 25. |
- Klaminder, Jonatan, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
-
Less anxious salmon smolt become easy prey during downstream migration
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 687, s. 488-493
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hatchery-reared salmon smolt used for supplementary stocking often display poor migration behavior compared to wild smolt, which reduces the success of this management action. Oxazepam, an anxiolytic drug, has been shown to intensify salmon smolt migration in mesocosm experiments, and treatment with this drug has, therefore, been suggested as a management option to improve downstream smolt migration. In this study, we tested this by assessing migration performance of hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolt along a 21-km long natural river-to-sea migration route in a boreal river in Northern Sweden. Using acoustic telemetry, the migration rate and survival of smolt that had been exposed to oxazepam (200 mu g L-1, N = 20) was monitored and compared with a control group (N = 20) of unexposed smolt. Exposed smolt took significantly longer time to initiate migration after release compared to the control fish, but after that we observed no significant difference in downstream migration speed. However, exposed smolt had considerably higher probability of being predated on compared to control smolt. We attribute these results to increased risk-taking and higher activity in oxazepam-exposed smolt, which in turn increased initial non-directional exploratory behavior and decreased predator vigilance. These results are discussed based on current concerns for ecological implications of behavioral modifications induced by pharmaceutical pollution and climate change. We conclude that exposure to oxazepam is an unsuitable management option to prime migration of reared salmon in natural systems.
|
|
