A Standardized Tritrophic Small-Scale System (TriCosm) for the Assessment of Stressor-Induced Effects on Aquatic Community Dynamics

作者：Riedl Verena^*; Agatz Annika; Benstead Rachel; Ashauer Roman

来源：Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2018, 37(4): 1051-1060.

DOI：10.1002/etc.4032

• Ecological risk assessment
• Aquatic invertebrate
• Population-level effect
• Food chain
• Aquatic microcosm
• Multispecies testing

Chemical impacts on the environment are routinely assessed in single-species tests. They are employed to measure direct effects on nontarget organisms, but indirect effects on ecological interactions can only be detected in multispecies tests. Micro- and mesocosms are more complex and environmentally realistic, yet they are less frequently used for environmental risk assessment because resource demand is high, whereas repeatability and statistical power are often low. Test systems fulfilling regulatory needs (i.e., standardization, repeatability, and replication) and the assessment of impacts on species interactions and indirect effects are lacking. In the present study we describe the development of the TriCosm, a repeatable aquatic multispecies test with 3 trophic levels and increased statistical power. High repeatability of community dynamics of 3 interacting aquatic populations (algae, Ceriodaphnia, and Hydra) was found with an average coefficient of variation of 19.5% and the ability to determine small effect sizes. The TriCosm combines benefits of both single-species tests (fulfillment of regulatory requirements) and complex multispecies tests (ecological relevance) and can be used, for instance, at an intermediate tier in environmental risk assessment. Furthermore, comparatively quickly generated population and community toxicity data can be useful for the development and testing of mechanistic effect models.

• 出版日期2018-4