Evaluating Effects of Contaminants on Fish Health at Multiple Levels of Biological Organization: Extrapolating from Lower to Higher Levels

Effects of environmental stressors such as contaminants on the health of aquatic ecosystems usually involve a series of biological responses ranging from the biomolecular/biochemical to the population and community levels. To establish relationships and to determine the feasibility of extrapolating between higher and lower levels of biological organization, spatial patterns in fish responses to contaminant loading were investigated in a stream receiving point-source discharges of various contaminants near its headwaters. Relationships among fish responses at four major levels of biological organization (biochemical/physiological, individual, population, and community levels) were evaluated relative to patterns in contaminant loading along the spatial gradient of the stream. Both individual and integrated response analysis demonstrated that bioindicators at several levels of biological organization displayed similar downstream patterns in their response to contaminant loading within the stream. Some of the bioindicator responses at lower levels of organization appear to be useful for the ecological risk assessment process because of their sensitivity and apparent relationships to higher levels. By identifying and establishing relationships between levels of biological organization we should be better able to understand the mechanisms of stress responses in ecological systems that could ultimately result in improved predictive capability of ecological risk assessment and also allow for more informed decisions regarding remedial actions.     

Comparative plant ecology as a tool for integrating across scales

Ecology, like other sciences, can be divided into various subdisciplines:physiological ecology, population ecology, community ecology,evolutionary ecology, and so on. Although the boundaries betweenthese subdisciplines are never strictly delimited, most ecologistswould agree on the assignment of most studies to particularsubdisciplines because the differentiating features of thesesubdisciplines refer to levels of biological organization (individuals,populations, communities) and types of research questions. Becausethese subdisciplines concentrate on different levels of biologicalorganization, they tend to measure different variables and askdifferent questions and this makes it difficult to integrateour ecological knowledge across these different levels of organization.This potential ‘balkanization’ must     

The Ecological Component of Ecological Risk Assessment: Lessons from a Field Experiment

To improve ecological relevance, regulatory agencies are promoting assessments of effects at higher levels of organization, an objective that requires an understanding of current ecological theories. One such theory, hierarchy theory, contends that the effects of a disturbance acting at one level of organization (e.g., population) are not, as a rule, transmitted to higher levels of organization (e.g., community). Conversely, effects at higher levels of organization only occur if lower level variables have been affected. Further, responses to disturbance depend on disturbance history. In this study, I determined the effects of a disturbance treatment at the population, guild, and community levels of organization for vegetation in five wetlands with a disturbance history ranging from highly to rarely disturbed. The 2-year field experiment revealed that the effects of the disturbance treatment were most strongly felt at the population level of organization in wetlands without a history of disturbance. These observed impacts took place against a backdrop of constant change. Thus, the eventual disappearance of treatment effects was not due to a return to the pre-treatment state, but rather a return to a trajectory similar to that exhibited by the control plots. The implications of these results for ecological risk assessment are: (1) the observed effects of a stressor in a system cannot be extrapolated to other systems unless they have similar disturbance histories, (2) detecting effects before they become serious requires monitoring at lower levels of organization, (3) recovery to a naturally innate state is not a viable concept, and (4) the traditional approach of using one post-treatment measurement to determine if reference and impact sites differ is of very questionable value.     

Introduction to the symposium: responses of organisms to climate change: a synthetic approach to the role of thermal adaptation

On a global scale, changing climates are affecting ecological systems across multiple levels of biological organization. Moreover, climates are changing at rates unprecedented in recent geological history. Thus, one of the most pressing concerns of the modern era is to understand the biological responses to climate such that society can both adapt and implement measures that attempt to offset the negative impacts of a rapidly changing climate. One crucial question, to understand organismal responses to climate, is whether the ability of organisms to adapt can keep pace with quickly changing environments. To address this question, a syntheses of knowledge from a broad set of biological disciplines will be needed that integrates information from the fields of ecology, behavior, physiology, genetics, and evolution. This symposium assembled a diverse group of scientists from these subdisciplines to present their perspectives regarding the ability of organisms to adapt to changing climates. Specifically, the goals of this symposia were to (1) highlight what each discipline brings to a discussion of organismal responses to climate, (2) to initiate and foster a discussion to break barriers in the transfer of knowledge across disciplines, and (3) to synthesize an approach to address ongoing issues concerning biological responses to climate.     

Biological monitoring of water quality in Australia: Workshop summary and future directions

Abstract Biological methods are widely accepted in water quality monitoring programmes worldwide; however, some concern remains over their effectiveness in predicting the effects of contaminants on aquatic ecosystems. While the so-called‘early warning’ approaches, such as bioassays and biomarkers, have been used in Australia to demonstrate mechanisms of toxic action and exposure to contaminants, as elsewhere, little attempt has been made to link observed effects at these lower levels of biological organization to real impacts on aquatic systems. The ecological consequences of exposure to contaminants is undoubtedly best studied at higher levels of biological organization (i. e. at the population or community level). However, monitoring aquatic communities is labour intensive and inadequate for the early detection of impacts. Research is needed to identify links between the bioassessment measures used, so that changes at the lowest biological level (e. g. using biomarkers and bioassays) can be translated into likely‘real’ impacts on the aquatic system, as measured at the population or community level. Monitoring the genetic structure of populations of aquatic organisms, particularly invertebrates, may provide a potential link between subtle effects observed in bioassay tests and subsequent changes in population density and/or community structure. A streamlined approach to monitoring changes at the community level needs to be developed to improve predictive ability and to make this approach more responsive to the early detection and prevention of unacceptable impacts. In addition, research on the use of ecosystem level parameters, such as production/respiration ratios or community metabolism, should be undertaken to determine their suitability for routine biomonitoring of water quality in Australian inland waters.     

The effects of pollution and the need for long-term monitoring

The general deterioration of coastal water quality and physical despoilation of habitats along the eastern United States coastline has had a major impact on estuarine and coastal fisheries. To understand the full extent of these effects, and to provide data on the rate at which they are spreading geographically, a new monitoring program called Ocean Pulse has been implemented. Ambient levels of contaminants in waters and sediments of the coastal zone are documented, and biological effects are monitored in habitats over the continental shelf as far seaward as high levels of contaminants can be measured. Samples and experimental measurements are taken at contaminated and uncontaminated sites between the Canadian boundary and Cape Hatteras. The primary aim of the Ocean Pulse program is to use changes in physiological/biochemical responses as indicators of biological change due to contaminant loading. Physiological, behavioral, ecological and other responses are measured so as to relate, ultimately, change in community structure, population responses and pathology to variation in the quality of habitat.     

Recovery in Diversity of Fish and Invertebrate Communities Following Remediation of a Polluted Stream: Investigating Causal Relationships

Spatial and temporal responses of biota to anthropogenic disturbance were measured over a 15 year period in a contaminated stream undergoing remediation and recovery. Along the spatial gradient of the stream, levels of contaminants decreased downstream along with improved responses of instream biota at several levels of biological organization. Recovery of the biota in this stream over the 15 year study period is demonstrated by the temporal relationships between levels of decreasing contaminants and the concomitant responses of the periphyton, macroinvertebrate, and fish communities and changes in the various bioindicators of individual fish health. Decreases in contaminants over a temporal scale were followed closely by an improvement in physiological and organismal-level indicators, increases in the diversity of macroinvertebrate and fish communities, and rapid increases in the chlorophyll a biomass and photosynthesis rate of the periphyton community. These results emphasize that field studies designed to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of restoration activities on stream recovery should incorporate a variety of response endpoints ranging from sensitive and short-term responses to long-term but ecological relevant indicators of change. The close spatial and temporal relationships observed between changes in physicochemical factors and positive responses in various components of the stream biota over the 15-year study period suggest a strong cause and effect relationship between remediation activities and stream recovery. Understanding causal relationships and the mechanistic processes between environmental stressors, stress responses of biota, and the recovery process is important in the effective management and restoration of aquatic ecosystems. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Linking effects of anthropogenic debris to ecological impacts

Accelerated contamination of habitats with debris has caused increased effort to determine ecological impacts. Strikingly, most work on organisms focuses on sublethal responses to plastic debris. This is controversial because (i) researchers have ignored medical insights about the mechanisms that link effects of debris across lower levels of biological organization to disease and mortality, and (ii) debris is considered non-hazardous by policy-makers, possibly because individuals can be injured or removed from populations and assemblages without ecological impacts. We reviewed the mechanisms that link effects of debris across lower levels of biological organization to assemblages and populations. Using plastic, we show microplastics reduce the ‘health’, feeding, growth and survival of ecosystem engineers. Larger debris alters assemblages because fishing-gear and tyres kill animals and damage habitat-forming plants, and because floating bottles facilitate recruitment and survival of novel taxa. Where ecological linkages are not known, we show how to establish hypothetical links by synthesizing studies to assess the likelihood of impacts. We also consider how population models examine ecological linkages and guide management of ecological impacts. We show that by focusing on linkages to ecological impacts rather than the presence of debris and its sublethal impacts, we could reduce threats posed by debris.     

From Molecules to Mating Success: Integrative Biology of Muscle Maturation in a Dragonfly

SYNOPSIS. Dragonflies begin adult life as comparatively weakfliers, then mature to become one of nature's ultimate flyingmachines. This ontogenetic transition provides an opportunityto investigate the relationship between life history, phenotypicplasticity, and changing ecological demands on organismal performance.Here we present an overview of a wide-ranging study of dragonflymuscle maturation that reveals i) ecological changes in theneed for efficient versus high-performance flight, ii) organism-level changes in performance, thermal physiology, locomotormechanics, and energy efficiency, iii) tissue-level changesin muscle ultrastructure and sensitivity to activation by calcium,and iv) molecular-level changes in the Lsoform composition ofa calcium regulatory protein in flight muscle (troponin-T).We discuss how these phenomena may be causally related, andthereby begin to show linkages across many levels of biologicalorganization. In particular, we suggest that alternative splicingof troponin-T mRNA is an important component of the "gearing"of muscle contractile function for developmental changes inwingbeat frequency and ecological demands on flight performance.Age-variable gearing of muscle function allows energeticallyeconomical flight during early adult growth, whereas power outputis maximized at maturity when aerial competition determinessuccess during territoriality and mating.     

The negative ecological impacts of a globally introduced species decrease with time since introduction

While there is a long‐history of biological invasions and their ecological impacts have been widely demonstrated across taxa and ecosystems, our knowledge on the temporal dynamic of these impacts remains extremely limited. Using a meta‐analytic approach, we investigated how the ecological impacts of non‐native brown trout (Salmo trutta), a model species with a 170‐year‐long and well‐documented history of intentional introductions across the globe, vary with time since introduction. We first observed significant negative ecological impacts immediately after the species introduction. Second, we found that the negative ecological impacts decrease with time since introduction and that the average ecological impacts become nonsignificant more than one century after introduction. This pattern was consistent across other ecological contexts (i.e., geographical location, levels of biological organization, and methodological approach). However, overall negative ecological impacts were more pronounced at the individual and population levels and in experimental studies. While the mechanisms leading to this decrease remain to be determined, our results indicate that rapid response of native organisms (e.g. adaptation, but also local extinction) may play an important role in this dynamic. Changes in native species traits and local extinction can have important conservation implications. Therefore, we argue that the decline of the negative ecological impacts over time should not be used as an argument to neglect the negative impacts of biological invasions.     

The confusion between scale-defined levels and conventional levels of organization in ecology

Abstract. Conventional levels of organization in ecology can be hierarchically ordered, but there is not necessarily a time or space scale-dependent difference between the classes: cell, organism, population, community, ecosystem, landscape, biome and biosphere. The physical processes that ecological systems must obey are strictly scaled in time and space, but communities or ecosystems may be either large or small. Conventional levels of organization are not scale-dependent, but are criteria for telling foreground from background, or the object from its context. We erect a scheme that separates scale-ordered levels from the conventional levels of organization. By comparing landscapes, communities and ecosystems all at the same scale, we find that communities and ecosystems do not map onto places on the landscape. Rather, communities and ecosystems are wave interference patterns between processes and organisms interfering with and accomodating to each other, even though they occur at different scales on the landscape, and so have different periodicities in their waved behavior. Population members are usually commensurately scaled and so do not generally interact to give interference patterns. Populations are therefore tangible, oratleastcan be assigned a location at an instant in time.     

Are ecosystems hormetic?

The phenomenon of hormesis has been observed mainly for the response of individual organisms to stress. A reasonable line of inquiry might explore the possibility of observing hormesis at other levels of ecological organization. This initial examination focuses on ecosystem hormesis. Explorations of hormetic responses of ecosystems to stress cannot be made independently of a fundamental concept of ecosystem. The scale‐dependence of ecosystem dynamics also influences whether an ecological disturbance is in reality a stressor. Ecosystem hormesis might be claimed if one or more components of an ecosystem exhibit hormesis. By this definition, ecosystem hormesis would be a trivial extension of hormesis observed for individual organisms. A non‐trivial extension of ecosystem hormesis would include the observation that integrated (i.e., holistic) measures of ecosystem structure or function displayed an hormetic response to an ecological stressor. Several such examples of ecosystem structural and functional hormesis are presented.     

Utility and relevance of aquatic oligochaetes in Ecological Risk Assessment

Ecological risk assessment (EcoRA) provides both a process and a framework to evaluate the potential for adverse ecological effects occurring as a result of exposure to contaminants or other stressors. EcoRA begins with problem formulation/hazard identification, progresses to effects and exposure assessment, and culminates with risk characterization (an estimate of the incidence and severity of any adverse effects likely to occur). Key components of EcoRA include determining: stressors/contaminants of concern; sensitive, exposed biota; and, appropriate tests and organisms for evaluating effects. Aquatic oligochaetes are not generally used directly in EcoRA because of three major perceptions. First, EcoRA personnel are generally not familiar with or comfortable using this group of organisms. Second, there is believed to be a paucity of widely accepted toxicity tests with these organisms. Third, their taxonomy is considered difficult and uncertain. In fact, aquatic oligochaetes potentially have great utility and relevance to EcoRAs because of factors including: their importance in the aquatic food chain (e.g. prey to fauna including fish and waterfowl; as a vector for contaminant movement through the food chain from bacteria); many species are widely distributed and well studied; representatives include fresh, estuarine and marine species; as a group, they range from sensitive to insensitive over a wide range of environmental insults; they have a long history of use in pollution monitoring and assessment; and, relevant toxicity and biaccumulation tests exist. Toxicity testing under defined conditions is appropriate for problem formulation while more realistic testing for effects assessment (e.g. microcosms) is logistically easier with this group of organisms than with others due to their relatively small size. The importance of aquatic oligochaetes for EcoRA, in particular of sediments, is particularly compelling.     

Photosynthetic and biochemical responses of the freshwater green algae <Emphasis Type="Italic">Closterium ehrenbergii</Emphasis> Meneghini (Conjugatophyceae) exposed to the metal coppers and its implication for toxicity testing

The freshwater green algae Closterium is sensitive to water quality, and hence has been suggested as ideal organisms for toxicity testing. In the present study, we evaluated the photosynthetic and biochemical responses of C. ehrenbergii to the common contaminants, coppers. The 72 h median effective concentrations (EC₅₀) of CuSO₄ and CuCl₂ on the test organism were calculated to be 0.202 mg/L and 0.245 mg/L, respectively. Exposure to both coppers considerably decreased pigment levels and photosynthetic efficiency, while inducing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells with increased exposure time. Moreover, the coppers significantly increased the levels of lipid peroxidation and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, even at relatively lower concentrations. These suggest that copper contaminants may exert deleterious effects on the photosynthesis and cellular oxidative stress of C. ehrenbergii, representing its powerful potential in aquatic toxicity assessments.     

Ecological genomics: understanding gene and genome function in the natural environment

The field of ecological genomics seeks to understand the genetic mechanisms underlying responses of organisms to their natural environments. This is being achieved through the application of functional genomic approaches to identify and characterize genes with ecological and evolutionary relevance. By its very nature, ecological genomics is an interdisciplinary field. In this review, we consider the significance of this new area of study from both an ecological and genomic perspective using examples from the recent literature. We submit that by considering more fully an ecological context, researchers may gain additional insights into the underlying genetic basis of ecologically relevant phenotypic variation. Likewise, genomic approaches are beginning to offer new insights into higher-level biological phenomena that previously occupied the realm of ecological investigation only. We discuss various approaches that are likely to be useful in ecological genomic studies and offer thoughts on where this field is headed in the future.     

Freshwater biomonitoring and Chironomidae

The use of Chironomidae in the biomonitoring of fresh waters is reviewed. Examples are given for levels of organization from organism to ecosystem, and a separate consideration is devoted to toxicity studies. Morphological deformities and life-history responses of Chironomidae to contaminants are common organism-level indicators. At the species-assemblage level, the classic lake trophic classification scheme, its contemporary derivatives, and paleolimnological approaches have been used extensively. Chironomidae also are essential components of quantitative and qualitative (rapid assessment) community approaches to biomonitoring. Examples of chironomids as components of ecosystem-level studies are rare, but even the few studies done show their value for this purpose. In toxicity testing, Chironomidae frequently are used in single species acute, single species chronic, and multispecies tests for a variety of stressors; Chironomidae could be used profitably in any expansion of toxicity testing involving macroinvertebrates. The review indicated that more emphasis on Chironomidae is required in studies of biochemical and physiological indicators of contaminants (organism level), and on Chironomidae as sentinel organisms (population level). Extensive use of Chironomidae in biomonitoring of fresh waters is consistent with the abundance and taxa richness of this group in natural habitats.Biological monitoring can be defined as the systematic use of biological responses to evaluate changes in the environment with the intent to use this information in a quality control program. These changes often are due to anthropogenic sources and may be caused by a variety of stresses such as toxic compounds, thermal effluents, and nutrient enrichment (MATTHEWS et al., 1982, p. 129).     

水生生态环境中捕食信息素的生态学效应

捕食信息素是捕食者释放的,能够引发猎物反捕食反应的化学信号。在水生生态系统中,捕食信息素在捕食者和猎物之间信息传递及协同进化过程中发挥着重要的作用,其生态学效应在国际上受到广泛关注。捕食信息素的来源有多种形式,研究中常使用养殖过捕食者的水溶液作为捕食信息素的来源。捕食信息素的作用效果受到捕食者和猎物的种类、信息素的浓度、观察的指标等多方面因素的影响。捕食信息素可以对水生生物的行为、形态和生活史特征等方面造成影响。水生生物通过感知捕食信息素来提前预知潜在的被捕食风险,并作出适应性调整,以降低被捕食的风险。在某些情况下,捕食信息素可以与污染物产生交互作用,从而干扰污染物对水生生物的毒性。对水生环境中捕食信息素的研究现状做了综述,介绍了当前对捕食信息素来源和理化性质等本质问题的认识,总结捕食信息素对水生生物行为、形态和生活史特征的影响,以及捕食信息素对污染物毒性的干扰,并分析了这一研究领域尚存在的困难和今后的研究方向。加强对捕食信息素的研究,将为解析水生环境中捕食者和猎物的生态关系提供新依据。     

Hormesis and ecological risk assessment: Fact or fantasy?

Hormesis is a widespread phenomenon across occurring many taxa and chemicals, and, at the single species level, issues regarding the application of hormesis to human health and ecological risk assessment are similar. However, interpreting the significance of hormesis for even a single species in an ecological risk assessment can be complicated by competition with other species, predation effects, etc. In addition, ecological risk assessments may involve communities of hundreds or thousands of species as well as a range of ecological processes. Applying hormetic adjustments to threshold effect levels for chemicals derived from sensitivity distributions for a large number of species is impractical. For ecological risks, chemical stressors are frequently of lessor concern than physical stressors (e.g., habitat alteration) or biological stressors (e.g., introduced species), but the relevance of hormesis to non‐chemical stressors is unclear. Although ecological theories such as the intermediate disturbance hypothesis offer some intriguing similarities between chemical hormesis and hormetic‐like responses resulting from physical disturbances, mechanistic explanations are lacking. While further exploration of the relevance of hormesis to ecological risk assessment is desirable, it is unlikely that hormesis is a critical factor in most ecological risk assessments, given the magnitude of other uncertainties inherent in the process.