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Common fungicide wreaks havoc on freshwater ecosystems by wwy yrj
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Common fungicide wreaks havoc on freshwater ecosystems by WWY YRJ
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| Article Posted: 11/24/2012 |
| Article Views: 44 |
| Articles Written: 1412 - MORE ARTICLES FROM THIS AUTHOR |
| Word Count: 409 |
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Common fungicide wreaks havoc on freshwater ecosystems |
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Biologists Taegan McMahon and Jason Rohr, co-authors of the studypublished in the journal Ecology Letters , report that chlorothalonil killed amphibians, snails,zooplankton, algae, and aquatic plants below estimatedenvironmental concentrations previously deemed safe by the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency. The loss of these herbivores andplants freed the algae from predation and competition, whicheventually resulted in algal blooms that were similar to theeffects of eutrophication. "Some species were able to recover from the chemical assault,but the ecosystem was fundamentally changed after its exposure tochlorothalonil," Rohr said. The four-week study was conducted in a series of 300-gallon tanksused to mimic pond conditions.It follows a 2011 laboratory studyconducted by McMahon and Rohr that found that ecologically-relevantconcentrations of chlorothalonil killed four species of amphibians.
"Although our new study is the only reported community- andecosystem-level experiment on chlorothalonil, our results areconsistent with several direct toxicity studies conducted in thelaboratory and with observations in the field," McMahon said. Chlorothalonil kills molds and fungus by disrupting cellularrespiration, an essential process for most multicellular organismson the planet. Like the infamous DDT, chlorothalonil is a member ofthe organochlorine chemical family. Fifty years after the book "Silent Spring" led to a banon most forms of the pesticide DDT, chlorothalonil is one of a feworganochlorine pesticides still registered for use in the U.S.,Europe and Australia. "In addition to reducing biodiversity and altering ecosystemfunctions, chlorothalonil reduced the decomposition of waste, animportant service that freshwater ecosystems provide tohumans," McMahon added.
"Interest in the relationship between biodiversity andecosystem functions stems at least partly from the concern thatanthropogenically-driven declines in biodiversity will reduce oralter the benefits offered by ecosystems," Rohrsaid."Surprisingly, however, this is one of the first studiesto actually manipulate an anthropogenic factor and link it tochanges in ecosystem functions mediated by declines inbiodiversity." "This is important because many species in ecosystems mightcontribute little to ecosystem functions or are functionallyredundant with other species, and thus declines in biodiversity donot always affect the functions and services of ecosystems,"Rohr said. McMahon and Rohr encourage further research on effects ofanthropogenic factors on ecosystem functions in systems withcomplex food webs and the re-evaluation of the safety ofchlorothalonil. Funding for the project was provided by the National ScienceFoundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and theEnvironmental Protection Agency. I am a professional writer from Construction & Real Estate, which contains a great deal of information about kitchen glass tile , hitachi construction machinery, welcome to visit!
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