The sensitivity of aquatic microbial communities to a complex agricultural contaminant depends on previous drought conditions

Abstract

In intermittent rivers, which represent a prominent part of worldwide rivers, aquatic organisms are exposed to sequential disturbances including flow cessation, potentially associated with water warming, desiccation process and flow resumption. At flow resumption, pollutants stored in soil and washed by rainfalls can reach fresh waters. The interaction between contamination and river intermittency is poorly understood. In this study, we aimed at understanding in what extent the intensity of dry period combined or not to water warming drives the sensitivity of aquatic communities to a complex agricultural run-off (ARO) during rewetting. Phototrophic biofilms, at the basis of freshwater food webs, were chosen as a model of community. Biofilms grown in laboratory were first exposed to a disturbance crossing two temperature conditions (not warmed, 22°C or warmed, 32°C) and three dry periods (no drying, short (3 days), or long (3 months)). Then they were exposed to a chemical mix of nitrates, copper and 3 pesticides at 6 gradual concentrations. Various descriptors associated with biofilm structure and function were assessed one week after ARO addition. When undisturbed biofilms were exposed to ARO, they shifted toward a more heterotrophic state as they lost algal richness and diversity, and gross primary production tended to decrease. Warming alone only slightly modified the sensitivity of biofilms to ARO, with lower effects on algal richness and a trend to increase the effect on gross primary production. In contrast, the association of warming and a dry period strongly modified the sensitivity to ARO, certainly due to the selection of generalist species and/or physiological acclimation inducted by the first disturbance. This study emphasizes the importance of considering water intermittency in the management of the ecological risk of chemicals in aquatic ecosystems.

Keywords: Agricultural runoff; Desiccation process; Global change; Phototrophic biofilms; Sequential disturbance.