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Pollution-induced community tolerance (PICT) as a tool for monitoring Lake Geneva long-term in situ ecotoxic restoration from herbicide contamination

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Abstract

Chemical monitoring revealed a regular decrease in herbicide concentration in Lake Geneva since last decades that may be linked to an ecotoxic restoration of nontarget phytoplanktonic communities. The Pollution-induced community tolerance (PICT) approach was tested as a tool to monitor the ecotoxic restoration of Lake Geneva for herbicides from 1999 to 2011. We conducted monthly assessments in 1999 and in 2011 for the tolerance of the phytoplankton communities to two herbicides (atrazine and copper), using PICT bioassays. The taxonomical composition of the communities was determined on the same collecting dates. The herbicide concentration decrease during the 12 years significantly influenced the composition of communities. The PICT monitoring indicated that a significant tolerance decrease in the community to both herbicides accompanied the herbicide concentration decrease. PICT measurements for atrazine and copper also changed at the intra-annual level. These variations were mainly due to community composition shifts linked to seasonal phosphorus and temperature changes. PICT monitoring on a seasonal basis is required to monitor the mean tolerance of communities. PICT appeared to be a powerful tool that reflected the toxic effects on environmental communities and to monitor ecotoxic ecosystem restoration.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Bo Nyström for his participation on 1999 PICT campaigns and the ecotoxicology INRA network for fruitful comments. This work is part of the IMPALAC program funded by The Ministère Français de l’Ecologie et du Développement Durable (convention 2100212555). The data used in this study were kindly provided by SOERE OLA-IS (INRA Thonon-les-Bains, CIPEL).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INRA, UMR CARRTEL, 74203, Thonon, France

    Floriane Larras, Frédéric Rimet, Bernard Montuelle & Agnès Bouchez

  2. Université de Savoie, UMR CARRTEL, 73011, Chambéry, France

    Floriane Larras, Frédéric Rimet, Bernard Montuelle & Agnès Bouchez

  3. LIEC, CNRS UMR 7360, Université de Lorraine, 57070, Metz, France

    Floriane Larras

  4. ISTE, Faculté des Géosciences et de l’Environnement, UNIL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Vincent Gregorio

  5. INRA, UMR1114 EMMAH, 84914, Avignon, France

    Annette Bérard

  6. UAPV, UMR1114 EMMAH, 84914, Avignon, France

    Annette Bérard

  7. IRD, UMR ECOSYM, 2 rue des Chantiers, 34200, Sète, France

    Christophe Leboulanger

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  1. Floriane Larras
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  2. Frédéric Rimet
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  3. Vincent Gregorio
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  4. Annette Bérard
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  5. Christophe Leboulanger
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  6. Bernard Montuelle
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  7. Agnès Bouchez
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Correspondence to Agnès Bouchez.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Larras, F., Rimet, F., Gregorio, V. et al. Pollution-induced community tolerance (PICT) as a tool for monitoring Lake Geneva long-term in situ ecotoxic restoration from herbicide contamination. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 4301–4311 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5302-0

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