We measured selenium (Se) speciation in the waters of 16 lakes located near two major metal smelters and compared it to Se concentrations in a potential biomonitor, the planktivorous insect Chaoborus. We used this sentinel because planktonic algae and crustaceans, which are lower in the trophic chain leading to Chaoborus, are more difficult to separate and identify to species, whereas many fish species are not obligate planktivores. Percentages of selenate and organo-Se were generally higher in acidic lakes, whereas those of selenite were usually greater in alkaline waters. Chaoborus Se concentrations varied widely among lakes and, with the exception of a single high-sulfate lake, were significantly and highly correlated with those of dissolved organo-Se plus selenate (Se(VI)). We suggest that Chaoborus larvae would be highly effective for monitoring the Se-exposure of planktonic food webs in lakes.

Ecological risk assessment of chemicals aims at quantifying the likelihood of adverse effects posed to non-target populations and the communities they constitute, often based on lethal concentration estimates for standard test species. There may, however, be intra- and interspecific differences in responses to chemical exposure. Here with the help of a toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic model, we explored whether differential body sizes might explain the observed variability in sensitivity between species and between life-stages of each individual species, for three model organisms, Daphnia magna, Chaoborus crystallinus and Mesocyclops leuckarti. While body size-dependent toxicokinetics could be used to predict intraspecies variation in sensitivity, our results also suggest that changes in both toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic parameters might be needed to describe differential species sensitivity. Accounting for biological traits, like body size, in mechanistic effect models will allow more accurate predictions of chemical effects in size structured populations, ultimately providing mechanistic explanations for species sensitivity distributions.

Cyanobacterial blooms are an increasing problem in a more eutrophic world. It is still a challenge to fully understand the influence of cyanobacteria on the interactions between predator and prey at higher trophic levels. The present study was mainly undertaken to understand the inducible anti-predator responses of cladocerans while using cyanobacteria as part of food. Specifically speaking, we focused on the anti-predator strategies of Ceriodaphnia cornuta in response to different predators (fish and Chaoborus larvae) under food with different proportions of Microcystis aeruginosa. The morphological (i.e., body size and the induction of horns) and life history traits (e.g., time to first reproduction, offspring number, and survival time) responses were measured under different proportions of M. aeruginosa (i.e., 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%). Our results showed that both the life history and the inducible anti-predator responses of C. cornuta were significantly affected by different concentrations of M. aeruginosa. Specifically, lower concentrations of Microcystis (20%–60%) can significantly promote the horns induction under Chaoborus predation risks, and higher Microcystis concentrations (60%–100%) tend to enhance reproduction in response to fish predation risks, such as larger body size, decreased time to first reproduction, and increased total offspring number. Additionally, an increasing concentration of M. aeruginosa decreased the ability of C. cornuta to reverse horns when predation risks removed. Our findings indicated that cyanobacteria affecting life history traits and the subsequent indirect effects on anti-predator responses in cladocerans could impact the interactions between predator and prey at higher trophic levels and may consequently contribute to shaping the structure of the community in a cyanobacteria bloom area.

Antidepressants discharged into natural waters are likely to become a new type of endocrine pollutant, which may impact the interspecific relationship in aquatic ecosystem. Induced defense of cladocerans plays an important role in maintaining the balance of interspecific relationships between cladocerans and higher trophic levels. Here we studied the effects of antidepressant sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, on the induced defensive traits of Ceriodaphnia cornuta in response to invertebrate predator Chaoborus larvae kairomone, including morphological defense and life history traits. We also conducted the predation experiments to check the selection rate of Chaoborus larvae during directly ingesting C. cornuta that were exposed to Chaoborus larvae kairomone at high concentration of sertraline. Results showed sertraline had an interference effect on the induced morphological defense of C. cornuta in response to Chaoborus larvae kairomone, i.e. the high concentration of sertraline (20 and 100 μg L⁻¹) significantly reduced the horns induction. However, the different concentrations of sertraline generally did not affect the life history traits of C. cornuta, regardless of presence or absence of Chaoborus larvae kairomone. The predation experiment demonstrated that the inhibition of sertraline on the induced morphological defense of C. cornuta can promote the feeding selective efficiency of Chaoborus larvae, and thus cause C. cornuta easily to be predated by Chaoborus larvae. Our results suggested that sertraline at the concentrations that are not direct harmful to life history traits of C. cornuta can seriously affect the predator-prey relationship, indicating that effects of pollutants on interspecific relationships should be considered comprehensively to avoid underestimating the potential risk of pollutants to ecosystems.

MeHg biomagnification by the phantom midge Chaoborus in relation to MeHg concentrations in their prey and its migratory behavior was investigated in two Canadian Precambrian Shield lakes. Three Chaoborus species with contrasted migratory behavior were collected in a fishless and a fish-inhabited lake. All species accumulated MeHg through their ontogenic development. In the lake inhabited by fish, all instars of Chaoborus punctipennis displayed a marked migratory behavior and were unable to biomagnify MeHg, whereas in the fishless lake, Chaoborus americanus and Chaoborus trivittatus biomagnified MeHg. Reduced biomagnification capacity of C. trivittatus, the coexisting species living with C. americanus, was also ascribed to a progressive vertical segregation with age. Growth dilution, amount and type of prey items or trophic position could not explain the different patterns of biomagnification. Our findings demonstrate that the most common invertebrate predator of temperate planktonic food webs can biomagnify mercury, contrarily to previous reports.