Post on 29-Jan-2016
transcript
The Ecological Consequences of
Emerging Contaminants
Jill BaronEcological Society of America
And U.S. Geological Survey
Ecosystem Services
• The conditions and processes by which natural ecosystems, and the species that make them up, sustain and fulfill human life.
Daily, 1997 Nature’s Services
Ecosystem Services:Short-Term Benefits
• Drinking water• Food supply• Flood Control• Purification of human, agricultural
and industrial wastes• Habitat for plant and animal life
Ecosystem Services:Long-Term Benefits
• Sustained provision of goods and services
• Adaptive capacity to respond to future alterations and disturbances
Contaminants Interferewith ecosystem function
• By reducing the health and reproductive success of species (H)
• Perhaps by altering food web dynamics, predator prey dynamics, and nutrient cycling (L)
Ultimately, ecosystem services required by society may be
affected
Contaminants Affect Organism Health
Through Disruption of: • Neurological• Endocrine• Immune
• Reproductive• Behavioral
Processes and Functions
Program Review, Feb. 25 – 28. 2002
Eastern mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki
Environmental Androgen Treated Female
elongation
total anal fin
anal fin
Normal (control) Female
anal fin
Normal (control) Male
gonopodium anal fin
total anal fin
Secondary Sex Characteristics:Masculinization of Gambusia & Environmental Androgen Exposure
Program Review, Feb. 25 – 28. 2002
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
pg
/ml
ControlControlEDC-1EDC-2EDC-3
Bioindicators of Reproductive/Endocrine Function and EDC Exposure
Plasma estradiol in female fish and EDC exposure effects.
0
1000
2000
Control 25ppb 50ppb 100ppb
Atrazine
pg
/ml
in p
lasm
a
EstradiolTestosterone11-KT
Sex steroids in female largemouth bass
Atrazine may be a significant endocrine disruptor in fish
Program Review, Feb. 25 – 28, 2002
- River otters from Puget Sound had smaller testes and reduced baculum size and weight.
-this organ hypoplasia correlated with organochlorines, PCBs, dioxins & furans.
- work is continuing to ID chemical causes and mode of action.
Program Review, Feb. 25 – 28, 2002
Catfish with deformities (above)and tumors (right)
Program Review, Feb. 25 – 28, 2002
Atlantic salmon exposed to low levels of pesticides and endocrine-disrupting chemicals in their freshwater juvenile stage may have reduced survival at sea. Atrazine reduces fish ability to physiologically adapt to saline conditions,causing mortality. Bay of Fundy atlantic salmon populations are only 1% of historical numbers, whilepesticides and other organic chemicals are highfrom agricultural runoff.
W. Fairchild, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
from Porter, et al. 1999, Toxicol. and Indust. Health
Physiological Disruption Propagates up to Higher Levels
Non-Effluent Stream Percentage of Total
Biovolume
• Algal Genus– Navicula– Aphanacapsa– Synedra– Sphaerocystis– Chlamydomonas
Control Triclosan
Loss of Rare Genera
Wilson, Smith, deNoyelles, Larive, Univ. KS
Non-Effluent Stream Percentage of Total
Biovolume
• Algal Genus– Navicula– Aphanacapsa– Synedra– Sphaerocystis– Chlamydomonas
Control Ciprofloxin
Increase in Synedra (diatom)
Wilson, Smith, deNoyelles, Larive, Univ. KS
Non-Effluent Stream Percentage of Total
Biovolume
• Algal Genus– Navicula– Aphanacapsa– Synedra– Sphaerocystis– Chlamydomonas
Control Tergitol
Switch to dominance by cyanobacteriaWilson, Smith, deNoyelles, Larive, Univ. KS
A Simplified Lake Food Web
Fish Zooplankton
Phytoplankton
Benthic Invertebrates
Benthic Algae
.. . ... . .. .. Bacteria
Ciliates & Flagellates
Summary
• Some compounds affect physiology at extremely low concentrations.
• We know hardly anything about the toxicology of most new chemicals on plants and animals.
• We know less than that about effects to populations, communities, ecosystems.
Near Gary, Indiana
Program Review, Feb. 25 – 28, 2002
Summary
• Emerging contaminants are an area of concern in addition to contaminants that are somewhat better studied: nutrients (N & P), PCBs, metals.
Contaminants as One of Many Environmental Stressors
Contaminants act on species in concert with other human-driven disturbances: climate change, non-native species invasions, land use change, altered hydrologic patterns, other contaminants.
Land-use changeAir PollutionBiodiversity lossInvasive SpeciesAcid deposition
Climate ChangeWater PollutionIncreased UV
We know very little
about how contaminants affect organisms and ecosystems,
either alone, with other contaminants, or in conjunction
with other environmental stresses.
Applied and Aquatic Ecology Sections of the Ecological Society of America
Thanks to:
USGS Biological Resources Division Contaminants Program Review
Team