Chemical–environment interactions affecting the risk of impacts on aquatic organisms: A review with a Canadian perspective — interactions affecting vulnerability

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (NA) ◽  
pp. 19-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Couillard ◽  
Simon C. Courtenay ◽  
Robie W. Macdonald

Environmental change can increase the vulnerability of aquatic species to toxic chemicals by challenging an organism’s aptitude to respond to chemicals or to repair toxic injury or by modifying animal behaviours like migration or predation. On the other hand, xenobiotics may affect the capacity of aquatic species to adapt to environmental challenges that come with change (e.g., pathogens, temperature). Across Canada we have identified a number of circumstances where chemicals and environmental variability have likely worked together to affect vulnerability of aquatic organisms. For example in the Maritimes, exposure to municipal wastewater or bleached kraft pulp mill effluent altered immune function in bivalves and increased their risk of developing haemocytic neoplasia, a disease known to cause high mortality. Northwest Atlantic cod stocks have experienced large-scale changes in environment and exhibit marked seasonal cycles in energy reserves. The risk associated with subsequent redistribution of persistent chemicals in the body together with nutritional deficiency is presently under evaluation since it could affect the recovery of these endangered stocks. In the Great Lakes, the introduction of an invasive fish species, the alewife, modified the diet of salmonids, which led to a deficiency of the vitamin thiamine in eggs causing early mortality. Contaminants may interact with thiamine deficiency and thus critically impair recruitment of salmonids. Viewing the risks presented by toxic chemicals from the point of view of species vulnerability, offers managers opportunities to mitigate such risks, for example, through habitat, ocean and fisheries management. Further research is needed to develop biomarkers of vulnerability, identify most vulnerable life stages and populations, to understand the interactions between global environmental changes, nutritional status, pathogens and toxic chemicals, and to develop integrated approaches to manage vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems to toxic chemicals.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (17) ◽  
pp. 9591
Author(s):  
Nemi Malhotra ◽  
Kelvin H.-C. Chen ◽  
Jong-Chin Huang ◽  
Hong-Thih Lai ◽  
Boontida Uapipatanakul ◽  
...  

In this paper, we review the effects of large-scale neonicotinoid contaminations in the aquatic environment on non-target aquatic invertebrate and vertebrate species. These aquatic species are the fauna widely exposed to environmental changes and chemical accumulation in bodies of water. Neonicotinoids are insecticides that target the nicotinic type acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the central nervous systems (CNS) and are considered selective neurotoxins for insects. However, studies on their physiologic impacts and interactions with non-target species are limited. In researches dedicated to exploring physiologic and toxic outcomes of neonicotinoids, studies relating to the effects on vertebrate species represent a minority case compared to invertebrate species. For aquatic species, the known effects of neonicotinoids are described in the level of organismal, behavioral, genetic and physiologic toxicities. Toxicological studies were reported based on the environment of bodies of water, temperature, salinity and several other factors. There exists a knowledge gap on the relationship between toxicity outcomes to regulatory risk valuation. It has been a general observation among studies that neonicotinoid insecticides demonstrate significant toxicity to an extensive variety of invertebrates. Comprehensive analysis of data points to a generalization that field-realistic and laboratory exposures could result in different or non-comparable results in some cases. Aquatic invertebrates perform important roles in balancing a healthy ecosystem, thus rapid screening strategies are necessary to verify physiologic and toxicological impacts. So far, much of the studies describing field tests on non-target species are inadequate and in many cases, obsolete. Considering the current literature, this review addresses important information gaps relating to the impacts of neonicotinoids on the environment and spring forward policies, avoiding adverse biological and ecological effects on a range of non-target aquatic species which might further impair the whole of the aquatic ecological web.


1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (11) ◽  
pp. 2455-2463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tokio Wada ◽  
Larry D Jacobson

We used reproductive success, rather than abundance or catch, to identify regimes because reproductive success responds faster to environmental changes. Peak abundance of Japanese sardine during 1951-1995 was about 1000 times higher than minimum abundance. A regime shift occurred in the early 1970s when carrying capacity (measured using spawner-recruit models) increased by about 75 times. We hypothesize that this was due to large-scale changes in the Kuroshio and Oyashio Current systems. Long-term environmental variation (regimes), interannual variability in recruitment success, and density-dependent recruitment and growth rates affected dynamics of Japanese sardine. We hypothesize that density-dependent effects on recruitment of Sardinops spp. are common but usually obscured in short data sets by environmental variability and measurement error. Virtual population analysis and forward-simulation modeling approaches gave similar biomass and recruitment estimates. The relationship between sardine biomass and catch per unit search time was nonlinear. Mass-at-age and biomass were correlated, and it may be possible to use mass-at-age as an abundance index. Current abundance is low, and we believe that the environment has shifted to a regime that is unfavorable for Japanese sardine.


1997 ◽  
Vol 352 (1353) ◽  
pp. 633-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
John K. Horne ◽  
David C. Schneider

Spatial variance in the distribution of aquatic mobile organisms differs from that of passive tracers such as phytoplankton or water temperature. On average, spatial variance of phytoplankton scales with sample unit as L 2 or equivalently with frequency as f −2 . Limited evidence suggests that spatial variance in the distribution of mobile organisms is concentrated at relatively small scales, with little increase over larger scales: spatial variance scales as f −1 or less. We investigated whether spatial variance in distributions of a mobile predator, Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ), and a schooling prey, capelin ( Mallotus villosus ), also scale with frequency as f −1 . Acoustic surveys showed that at short time scales spatial variance in cod and capelin densities, as measured by spectral density, peaked at various scales ranging from 20 m to 10 km. At longer time scales, spatial variance of cod scaled as f −1.08 at resolutions finer than 90 m, while scaling as f −0.18 at coarser scales. Spatial variance of capelin scaled as f −1.1 at resolutions finer than 400 m, while scaling as f −0.20 at coarser scales. Spatial variance plots of krill and marine birds showed similar transitions from shallow to steep scaling. Shoaling, schooling and the aggregative response by predators to concentrations of prey were three processes hypothesized to influence spatial variance in distributions of mobile organisms. Numerical experiments showed that shoaling injects variance at large to intermediate scales, resulting in scalings flatter than f −1 . Additional experiments showed that schooling produces a transition from shallow to steep scaling as frequency increases. Spatial variance patterns in cod density were not due to aggregative responses by the predator to concentrations of capelin— there was no association, on average, at resolution scales from 20 m to 10 km. Exponent values for aquatic or terrestrial mobile organisms are predicted to be approximately two at the scale of an individual organism, 0.2 at scales that contain aggregations, and two at scales larger than that of populations. These findings suggest that relations between mobile organisms and large scale habitat variables will be difficult to detect, that stratified survey designs used to estimate commercial population sizes will be inefficient, and that rates of interaction between predator and prey will be underestimated if local observations are averaged over the spatial scale of the population.


2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (NA) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Couillard ◽  
Robie W. Macdonald ◽  
Simon C. Courtenay ◽  
Vince P. Palace

As a consequence of human activity, the variability and range of environmental conditions is increasing. We review how the interactions between toxic chemicals and environmental change may affect exposure of aquatic organisms to stressful conditions and therefore alter the risk of deleterious impacts. Even in the absence of new inputs of contaminants, changing environmental conditions alters the transport, transformation and distribution of contaminants and their bioavailability. Conversely, some toxic chemicals modify the exposure of aquatic species to other stressors by affecting species distribution, behaviour or habitat. Across Canada there are a number of specific examples where interactions between contaminants and environmental change are probably harming aquatic species. In the Arctic, change in foraging brought on by change in ice regime, is a plausible mechanism to explain the marked recent increase in mercury concentrations in Beaufort Sea beluga whales. On the Pacific coast, chemical exposure by itself or in combination with other environmental factors, is a leading suspect for altered migration timing of some salmon stocks in the Fraser River leading to massive pre-spawning mortality. In the North Atlantic, short-term exposure of Atlantic salmon to endocrine-disrupting substances in their freshwater natal environments later leads to detectable effects at the time of their migration to saltwater. In Alberta, biotic and abiotic characteristics of the habitat dramatically affect exposure pathways and the risk of toxic effects of selenium in early life stages of trout. A better understanding of the interactions between toxic chemicals and environmental factors is a fundamental requirement for efficient management and protection of aquatic ecosystems.


Author(s):  
Deborah Carr ◽  
Vera K. Tsenkova

The body weight of U.S. adults and children has risen markedly over the past three decades. The physical health consequences of obesity are widely documented, and emerging research from the Midlife in the United States study and other large-scale surveys reveals the harmful impact of obesity on adults’ psychosocial and interpersonal well-being. This chapter synthesizes recent research on the psychosocial implications of body weight, with attention to explanatory mechanisms and subgroup differences in these patterns. A brief statistical portrait of body weight is provided, documenting rates and correlates of obesity, with a focus on race, gender, and socioeconomic status disparities. The consequences of body weight for three main outcomes are described: institutional and everyday discrimination, interpersonal relationships, and psychological well-being. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the ways that recent integrative health research on the psychosocial consequences of overweight and obesity inform our understanding of population health.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 593
Author(s):  
Ryota Yanagisawa ◽  
Shunsuke Shigaki ◽  
Kotaro Yasui ◽  
Dai Owaki ◽  
Yasuhiro Sugimoto ◽  
...  

In this study, we fabricated a novel wearable vibration sensor for insects and measured their wing flapping. An analysis of insect wing deformation in relation to changes in the environment plays an important role in understanding the underlying mechanism enabling insects to dynamically interact with their surrounding environment. It is common to use a high-speed camera to measure the wing flapping; however, it is difficult to analyze the feedback mechanism caused by the environmental changes caused by the flapping because this method applies an indirect measurement. Therefore, we propose the fabrication of a novel film sensor that is capable of measuring the changes in the wingbeat frequency of an insect. This novel sensor is composed of flat silver particles admixed with a silicone polymer, which changes the value of the resistor when a bending deformation occurs. As a result of attaching this sensor to the wings of a moth and a dragonfly and measuring the flapping of the wings, we were able to measure the frequency of the flapping with high accuracy. In addition, as a result of simultaneously measuring the relationship between the behavior of a moth during its search for an odor source and its wing flapping, it became clear that the frequency of the flapping changed depending on the frequency of the odor reception. From this result, a wearable film sensor for an insect that can measure the displacement of the body during a particular behavior was fabricated.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2885
Author(s):  
Jinyu Li ◽  
Baozhen Li ◽  
Jinshui Yang

The bio-flocculation ability of UTEX 2341 was studied for the purpose of improving microalgae harvesting efficiency to cut the high cost of biofuel production. The algae cells of UTEX 2341 cultured under heterotrophic and municipal wastewater conditions were found to have better self-flocculation ability, with flocculation rates of 92% and 85% at 2 h, respectively. Moreover, the flocculation rates of 16 freeze-dried microalgae powder samples cultured under different stress conditions were 0~72% with an algae powder dosage of 35 mg L−1. The flocculation efficiency of DIM, DCd1, DT28, and L6S was stable under different pH of 3~9 and temperatures of 15~50 °C. For samples of IM, LCd0.6, LMn2, and LZn2, the flocculation efficiency decreased or increased respectively with increased pH or temperatures. Though the flocculation properties of the eight samples showed wide differences, their flocculant compositions were almost the same with unknown components occupying large proportions. More studies needed to be further carried out to reveal the flocculation mechanisms and analyze the flocculation abilities in practical application, which would be conducive to future large-scale application of the bio-flocculation method and also cost reduction.


2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 1717-1727 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jason Phillips ◽  
Lorenzo Ciannelli ◽  
Richard D. Brodeur ◽  
William G. Pearcy ◽  
John Childers

Abstract This study investigated the spatial distribution of juvenile North Pacific albacore (Thunnus alalunga) in relation to local environmental variability [i.e. sea surface temperature (SST)], and two large-scale indices of climate variability, [the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Multivariate El Niño/Southern Oscillation Index (MEI)]. Changes in local and climate variables were correlated with 48 years of albacore troll catch per unit effort (CPUE) in 1° latitude/longitude cells, using threshold Generalized Additive Mixed Models (tGAMMs). Model terms were included to account for non-stationary and spatially variable effects of the intervening covariates on albacore CPUE. Results indicate that SST had a positive and spatially variable effect on albacore CPUE, with increasingly positive effects to the North, while PDO had an overall negative effect. Although albacore CPUE increased with SST both before and after a threshold year of 1986, such effect geographically shifted north after 1986. This is the first study to demonstrate the non-stationary spatial dynamics of albacore tuna, linked with a major shift of the North Pacific. Results imply that if ocean temperatures continue to increase, US west coast fisher communities reliant on commercial albacore fisheries are likely to be negatively affected in the southern areas but positively affected in the northern areas, where current albacore landings are highest.


Author(s):  
Takeshi Mizunoya ◽  
Noriko Nozaki ◽  
Rajeev Kumar Singh

AbstractIn the early 2000s, Japan instituted the Great Heisei Consolidation, a national strategy to promote large-scale municipal mergers. This study analyzes the impact that this strategy could have on watershed management. We select the Lake Kasumigaura Basin, the second largest lake in Japan, for the case study and construct a dynamic expanded input–output model to simulate the ecological system around the Lake, the socio-environmental changes over the period, and their mutual dependency for the period 2012–2020. In the model, we regulate and control the following water pollutants: total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and chemical oxygen demand. The results show that a trade-off between economic activity and the environment can be avoided within a specific range of pollution reduction, given that the prefectural government implements optimal water environment policies, assuming that other factors constraining economic growth exist. Additionally, municipal mergers are found to significantly reduce the budget required to improve the water environment, but merger budget efficiency varies nonlinearly with the reduction rate. Furthermore, despite the increase in financial efficiency from the merger, the efficiency of installing domestic wastewater treatment systems decreases drastically beyond a certain pollution reduction level and eventually reaches a limit. Further reductions require direct regulatory instruments in addition to economic policies, along with limiting the output of each industry. Most studies on municipal mergers apply a political, administrative, or financial perspective; few evaluate the quantitative impact of municipal mergers on the environment and environmental policy implications. This study addresses these gaps.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1413
Author(s):  
Mariana Lizbeth Rodríguez-López ◽  
José Jaime Martínez-Magaña ◽  
David Ruiz-Ramos ◽  
Ana Rosa García ◽  
Laura Gonzalez ◽  
...  

Binge-eating disorder, recently accepted as a diagnostic category, is differentiated from bulimia nervosa in that the former shows the presence of binge-eating episodes and the absence of compensatory behavior. Epigenetics is a conjunct of mechanisms (like DNA methylation) that regulate gene expression, which are dependent on environmental changes. Analysis of DNA methylation in eating disorders shows that it is reduced. The present study aimed to analyze the genome-wide DNA methylation differences between individuals diagnosed with BED and BN. A total of 46 individuals were analyzed using the Infinium Methylation EPIC array. We found 11 differentially methylated sites between BED- and BN-diagnosed individuals, with genome-wide significance. Most of the associations were found in genes related to metabolic processes (ST3GAL4, PRKAG2, and FRK), which are hypomethylated genes in BED. Cg04781532, located in the body of the PRKAG2 gene (protein kinase AMP-activated non-catalytic subunit gamma 2), was hypomethylated in individuals with BED. Agonists of PRKAG2, which is the subunit of AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase), are proposed to treat obesity, BED, and BN. The present study contributes important insights into the effect that BED could have on PRKAG2 activation.


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