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Evaluation of the capacity for development of atrazine tolerance in periphyton from a swedish freshwater site as determined by inhibition of photosynthesis and sulfolipid synthesis
Author(s) -
Nyström Bo,
Paulsson Maria,
Almgren Klara,
Blank Hans
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620190515
Subject(s) - periphyton , atrazine , photosynthesis , algae , microcosm , environmental chemistry , biology , chlorophyll , dry weight , chlorophyll a , botany , chemistry , ecology , pesticide
Periphyton communities were established onglassdisksks undëcontinuous exposure tatrazine (0.056–3.2 μM, or 12–700 μg/L) in a microcosm flowthrough system with water from the Göta Älv river in Southern Sweden. The effects of atrazine on chlorophyll a content, ash‐free dry weight, algal species composition, and adenine and thymidine incorporation activity were determined after 4 weeks of continuous exposure. Tolerance of the algal community to atrazine was also determined by short‐term inhibition of photosynthesis and sulfolipid synthesis. The no‐effect concentrations for the long‐term exposure as determined with the different methods were between 0.040 and 0.28 μM of atrazine. The algal community seemed to have a low potential for development of tolerance to atrazine. Tolerant algae, however, seemed to have some capacity to replace the more sensitive species at low long‐term exposure (0.056–0.56 μM), which was reflected in a small but consistent increase of community tolerance. At higher concentrations, no algal species remained unaffected by atrazine, and consequently, no further increase in community tolerance was possible. On the contrary, the algal community appeared to become more sensitive.