Neonicotinoids disrupt aquatic food webs and decrease fishery yields

Invertebrate declines are widespread in terrestrial ecosystems, and pesticide use is often cited as a causal factor. Here, we report that aquatic systems are threatened by the high toxicity and persistence of neonicotinoid insecticides. These effects cascade to higher trophic levels by altering food...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 366; no. 6465; p. 620
Main Authors: Yamamuro, Masumi, Komuro, Takashi, Kamiya, Hiroshi, Kato, Toshikuni, Hasegawa, Hitomi, Kameda, Yutaka
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 01.11.2019
Subjects:
Animals
Aquatic Organisms - drug effects
Biomass
Ecosystem
Eels
Fisheries
Fishes
Food Chain
Insecticides - toxicity
Invertebrates - drug effects
Japan
Lakes
Neonicotinoids - toxicity
Osmeriformes
Population Dynamics
Water Quality
Zooplankton - drug effects
Japan
ISSN:1095-9203, 1095-9203
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:Invertebrate declines are widespread in terrestrial ecosystems, and pesticide use is often cited as a causal factor. Here, we report that aquatic systems are threatened by the high toxicity and persistence of neonicotinoid insecticides. These effects cascade to higher trophic levels by altering food web structure and dynamics, affecting higher-level consumers. Using data on zooplankton, water quality, and annual fishery yields of eel and smelt, we show that neonicotinoid application to watersheds since 1993 coincided with an 83% decrease in average zooplankton biomass in spring, causing the smelt harvest to collapse from 240 to 22 tons in Lake Shinji, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. This disruption likely also occurs elsewhere, as neonicotinoids are currently the most widely used class of insecticides globally.
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ISSN:1095-9203
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aax3442