Agricultural impacts on Mediterranean wetlands : the effect ofpesticides on survival and hatching rates in copepods

Abstract

Wetlands are one of the most altered natural systems due to the creation and development of agricultural landscapes. Some ofagriculture’s impacts are in relation to water quality decreases, due to the use of potentially toxic herbicides or pesticides, andthey are responsible of ecological alterations. This study shows the negative effect that two pesticides generate in a populationof the copepod Arctodiaptomus salinus in an aquatic ecosystem that is surrounded by intensive olive tree cultivation. Adultfemales and egg sacs of that calanoid copepod were exposed to different concentrations of copper sulphate and the pesticidedimethoate, to examine their tolerance response. The adult lethal concentration obtained was lower than the regular dose of pesticideused in olive agriculture. These results also reflect the negative effect over A. salinus secondary production as a consequenceof the increase in females and nauplii mortality and by the hatching rate reduction.