Soil samples will be collected from a study site to characterise the soil community. Biomarker responses (DNA or membrane damage) as well as life history consequences (survival, fecundity, population growth) will be investigated in laboratory experiments. In field experiments, the toxic substance will be applied in three concentrations to different plots, as well as controls, and effects on all collembolan species and important predators will be described by change in abundance as a function of concentration. The same biomarker responses will be quantified in the selected species following field exposure.
Direct and indirect effects of a toxic substance on soil living Collembola
The consequences of environmental stressors such as the presence of toxic substances or temperature changes are complex combinations of direct and indirect effects. Effects of a toxic substance on dominant soil dwelling collembolan species will be studied both under natural conditions and when kept in defaunated soil. The hypothesis to be tested is whether the responses of the chosen species differ when the exposure is under natural conditions and in a simplified laboratory test system, due to additional indirect effects mediated via change in trophic interactions in the intact soil community.
Published Mar. 22, 2018 10:30 AM
- Last modified Apr. 19, 2018 8:14 AM