|
Interactive Poster Session: Soil Ecotoxicology (TU18/11) Avoidance Behaviour Responses by enchytraeids (Enchytraeus albidus): Studying different soils and the effect of Benomyl, Carbendazim and Phenmedipham. Amorim, Mónica1, 2, Jörg, Römbke2, Soares, Amadeu, 1 Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal2 ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH, Försheim/Main, Germany ABSTRACT- Enchytraeids ( Enchytraeus albidus) are typical inhabitants of soils, contributing to vital processes of this environmental compartment. Indirectly they are involved in regulating the degradation of organic matter, as well as improving the pore structure of the soil. Due to their behavior they are able to avoid unfavorable environmental conditions, especially contaminated areas. Avoidance tests, initially developed with earthworms (Eisenia fetida and Lumbricus terrestris) by several authors (Yeardley et al., 1996; Slimak, 1997; Stephenson et al., 1998 and Hund, 1998), are quick and easy to perform. With these tests a first assessment of the toxicity of a (contaminated or spiked) soil is possible in just 48 hours by using the reaction of the enchytraeids as measurement endpoint. In this period of time the organisms can choose between the control soil (e.g. LUFA 2.2, OECD soil) and the other soil (contaminated or spiked). In these tests, the enchytraeids were exposed to control soils spiked with the fungicides Benomyl and Carbendazim and the herbicide Phenmedipham. Several chemical concentrations were tested in order to compare the results of avoidance behaviour with results of acute and reproduction tests. The results indicate that the avoidance response was clearly more sensitive than acute tests. In fact, often these short-term screening tests gave results in the same range like long-term reproduction tests It is proposed to standardize the Enchytraeid avoidance test in a similar way like it is currently done for the earthworm avoidance test. Key words: Enchytraeids, Avoidance tests, soil type, Ecotoxicology |
