Environmental DNA metabarcoding reveals comparable responses to
agricultural stressors on different trophic levels of a freshwater
community
Abstract
Freshwater habitats are under stress from agricultural land use, most
notably the influx of neonicotinoid pesticides and increased nutrient
pressure from fertilizer. Traditional studies investigating the effects
of stressors on freshwater systems are often limited to a narrow range
of taxa, depending heavily on morphological expertise. Additionally,
disentanglement of multiple simultaneous stressors can be difficult in
field studies, whereas controlled laboratory conditions do not
accurately reflect natural conditions and food webs. To overcome these
drawbacks, we investigated the impacts of two agricultural stressors
(the neonicotinoid insecticide thiacloprid and fertilizer) in
full-factorial design in a semi-natural research site, using
environmental DNA sampling to study three different taxonomic groups
representing three trophic levels: bacteria (decomposers), phytoplankton
(primary producers), and chironomids (consumers). The results show
considerably impact of both stressors across trophic levels, with an
additive effect of fertilizer and thiacloprid on community composition
at all levels. These findings suggest that agricultural stressors affect
the entire food web, either directly or through cascade reactions. They
are also consistent with morphological assessments that were performed
in the same study site, even at a lower number of replicates. The study
presented shows that the use of multi-marker environmental DNA provides
a more comprehensive assessment of stressor impacts across multiple
trophic levels, at a higher taxonomic resolution than traditional
surveys. Additionally, over a thousand putative novel bio-indicators for
both agricultural stressors were discovered. We encourage further
investigations into stressors impacts at different trophic levels, which
will lead to more effective monitoring and management of freshwater
systems.