PW11 Integrating Sublethal Responses and Ecologically Relevant Endpoints
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Wednesday
(PW190) Do different individual and population endpoints tell different stories about exposure to pollutants and predators?
Campero, M.1, 2, Stoks, R.1, Ollevier, F.1, 1 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven), Leuven, Belgium2 Universidad Mayor de San Simon, Cochabamba, Bolivia
ABSTRACT- The resulting effects of the interaction between stressors such as pollutants (i.e. biocides) and ecological pressures (i.e. predation) are poorly known at the individual level. Moreover, little is known how effects at he individual level translate into population dynamics. In this study, we determine the effects of sub-lethal doses of two pollutants, a herbicide (atrazine) and an insecticide (carbaryl), coupled with predation pressure. As model organisms we used a non-target aquatic population of the damselfly Coenagrion puella (Odonata, Insecta). After exposure, several endpoints were measured at the individual level (digestive efficiency and energy allocation, enzymatic activity, DNA damage, developmental stability, individual growth rate) and at the population level (fluctuating asymmetry, sex-specific survival). The analyses were performed in a modeling framework based on repeated individual measures with each individual as its own control. The results are discussed addressing the importance of choosing reliable endpoints at the individual level and the significance of those at population level. We will discuss to what extent this link from individual to population level is pollutant-specific. Further improvements to measure long and short-term effects of different stressors at population level are proposed.
Key words: individual endpoints, stress, population endpoints, repeated measures