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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Functional measures as potential indicators of down-the-drain chemical stress in freshwater ecological risk assessment
ClearAssessment of ecological risk for ecosystems caused by dredged materials in freshwater environments
Researchers assessed ecological risks posed by chemical contaminants in dredged freshwater sediments, evaluating metals, organic pollutants, and emerging contaminants including microplastics across multiple risk metrics to inform safe disposal and management decisions.
Microplastics alter the leaf litter breakdown rates and the decomposer community in subtropical lentic microhabitats
Researchers exposed leaf litter decomposition systems to microplastics and measured breakdown rates and decomposer community composition, finding that microplastics slowed litter breakdown and shifted the abundance of invertebrate shredders and microbial decomposers. The study suggests microplastics could disrupt nutrient cycling in freshwater ecosystems by impairing a foundational ecological process.
Evidence of micro and macroplastic toxicity along a stream detrital food-chain.
Both micro- and macroplastic polyethylene pieces inhibited the decomposition of leaf litter in freshwater streams, with microplastics reducing the feeding activity of stream invertebrates. Since leaf litter decomposition is a critical process that nutrients and energy flow into freshwater food webs, plastic pollution could disrupt these fundamental ecosystem functions.
Aquatic ecosystem indices, linking ecosystem health to human health risks
Researchers reviewed indicators used to assess aquatic ecosystem health and found that most existing tools don't adequately capture the risks that degraded water ecosystems pose to human health and well-being. They propose a new set of combined indicators — covering chemical contaminants, pathogens, and biological markers — to better link ecosystem health monitoring to human health outcomes.
Promising indicators for monitoring microplastic pollution
This review evaluated promising biological and ecological indicators for monitoring microplastic pollution, arguing that standardized indicator species and metrics are needed to better track microplastic abundance, distribution, and accumulation in ecosystems.
Development of Ecosystem Health Assessment (EHA) and Application Method: A Review
This review traces the development of ecosystem health assessment methods, comparing biological indicator approaches and index system methods and analyzing how they have been applied to assess the health of aquatic, terrestrial, and urban ecosystems under anthropogenic stress.
Field validated biomarker (ValidBIO) based assessment of impacts of various pollutants in water
This review examines field-validated biomarker approaches for monitoring water pollution, showing that enzymatic activity changes in fish exposed to heavy metals, pesticides, microplastics, and persistent organic pollutants serve as sensitive and reliable indicators of aquatic contamination across diverse environments.
Microplastic Contamination and Ecological Status of Freshwater Ecosystems: A Case Study in Two Northern Portuguese Rivers
Microplastic contamination was assessed in sediments and Oligochaeta gut contents across two rivers with different ecological status scores, finding that urbanization rather than ecological status was the primary driver of sediment microplastic abundance. The results indicate that ecological quality indices alone are insufficient for tracking microplastic pollution in freshwater systems.
Combined impacts of micoplastic type, concentrations and nutrient loading on freshwater communities and ecosystems
Researchers used 40 outdoor freshwater mesocosms to test the independent and interactive effects of microplastic type (conventional vs. bio-based biodegradable), particle concentration, and nutrient enrichment on pelagic community structure and ecosystem functions including phytoplankton biomass, periphyton productivity, and leaf litter decomposition, finding no significant impacts at the ecosystem scale.
Assessing land-use impacts on a 5th-order tropical river using multiple environmental indicators
Researchers combined multiple environmental indicators to assess the health of a tropical river system in Brazil affected by land-use change from agriculture and urbanization. Rivers in degraded landscapes also carry higher microplastic loads, and multi-indicator approaches provide a more complete picture of ecosystem health.
A Multilevel Risk Assessment Framework for Nanoplastics in Aquatic Ecosystems
Researchers proposed a multilevel risk assessment framework for nanoplastics in aquatic ecosystems that synthesizes complex ecotoxicological datasets into actionable risk indicators, designed to help policymakers set safety thresholds and make decisions about restrictions on petrochemical-derived materials.
Important ecological processes are affected by the accumulation and trophic transfer of nanoplastics in a freshwater periphyton-grazer food chain
Researchers found that nanoplastics bioaccumulate and transfer trophically in a freshwater periphyton-grazer food chain, affecting fundamental ecological processes and highlighting significant gaps in our understanding of nanoplastic risks in freshwater ecosystems.
Assessment of potential ecological risk for microplastics in freshwater ecosystems
Researchers assessed the ecological risk of microplastics across freshwater ecosystems worldwide, including rivers and lakes in China, Vietnam, Europe, and South America. While one risk method showed negligible danger, more comprehensive assessment approaches revealed extreme ecological threats at every location studied, suggesting that microplastic pollution in freshwater may be more serious than previously thought.
Assessment of biomarker-based ecotoxic effects in combating microplastic pollution - A review
This review examined the use of biomarker-based ecotoxicological approaches to assess the impacts of microplastic pollution across marine, freshwater, and terrestrial organisms. The authors argue that standardized biomarker frameworks are needed to quantify ecological harm from microplastics more effectively.
Microplastics and leaf litter decomposition dynamics: New insights from a lotic ecosystem (Northeastern Italy)
Researchers studied how microplastics affect the natural decomposition of plant litter in a freshwater stream over four seasons, finding that microplastics had a small but measurable negative effect on decomposition rates and accumulated inside the invertebrates responsible for breaking down organic matter. These findings suggest microplastic pollution subtly disrupts the nutrient cycling processes that keep freshwater ecosystems healthy.
Measures for improving water quality to bend the curve of global freshwater biodiversity loss
This paper examines measures for improving water quality to reverse the decline of global freshwater biodiversity, addressing pollutants including microplastics along with chemicals, heat, light, and pathogens. Researchers analyzed the complex pathways through which these contaminants degrade aquatic ecosystems worldwide. The study identifies strategies for reducing pollutant loads to protect freshwater species and ecosystem health.
Microplastics in Aquatic Ecosystems: Implications for Ecosystem Services and the Sustainability of Fisheries
Researchers synthesized evidence on microplastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems through an ecosystem-services framework, linking organism-level biological responses and trophic transfer dynamics to consequences for provisioning, regulating, and supporting services, and identifying key gaps needed to quantify impacts on fishery productivity and recruitment stability.
An alternative approach to risk rank chemicals on the threat they pose to the aquatic environment
This paper proposed an alternative approach for ranking chemicals by the threat they pose to aquatic ecosystems, integrating exposure and hazard data in a more ecologically meaningful way than standard risk quotient methods.
Microplastics as a vehicle of exposure to chemical contamination in freshwater systems: Current research status and way forward
This review assessed the current state of research on microplastics as vectors for chemical contaminants in freshwater systems, evaluating evidence for and against the vector hypothesis and identifying the most important knowledge gaps, including the need for studies at environmentally realistic concentrations.
Ecological risks in a ‘plastic’ world: A threat to biological diversity?
This review synthesized evidence on how microplastic pollution affects biological diversity and community structure across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, finding that most studies document effects at the individual level but that community- and ecosystem-level impacts remain poorly characterized.
The organism fate of inland freshwater system under micro-/nano-plastic pollution: A review of past decade.
This review synthesized a decade of research on how micro- and nano-plastics affect freshwater organisms including microalgae, macrophytes, zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, and fish, finding that impacts range from impaired photosynthesis and oxidative stress to reproductive disruption and behavioral changes across multiple biological levels.
Assessing the Ecological Effects of Multiple Stressors in River and Stream Ecosystems
This doctoral research examines sources, sinks, and ecological impacts of plastics and other chemical contaminants as multiple stressors in river and stream ecosystems, applying contaminant mixture analysis at multiple biological levels from sub-organismal to ecosystem scale.
Understanding hazardous concentrations of microplastics in fresh water using non-traditional toxicity data
Researchers developed hazard concentration thresholds for microplastics in freshwater using non-traditional toxicity data, accounting for environmentally relevant sizes, shapes, and polymer types to provide more realistic governance standards.
Multi stress system: Microplastics in freshwater and their effects on host microbiota
This study examined how combined exposure to microplastics and organic chemical pollutants affects freshwater organisms through a multi-stress approach, focusing on gut microbiome changes as an indicator. Microplastic exposure in combination with other pollutants altered microbiome composition more than either stressor alone, with potential consequences for host fitness and disease resistance.