Behavioural and physiological responses to pharmaceutical exposure in macroalgae and grazers from a Baltic Sea littoral community

Abstract

Gammarus spp. and Fucus vesiculosus from the Baltic Sea littoral community were exposed to 3 concentrations of the pharmaceuticals ibuprofen and propranolol. Both physiological and behavioural parameters were measured to examine potential effects in the organisms. For Gammarus spp., respiration, feeding rate and activity with and without predator cues were measured, and gross production to respiration ratio (GP/R) and chlorophyll fluorescence were measured for F. vesiculosus. The results showed that propranolol decreased the activity related to movement, and Gammarus spp. could not compensate for the reduced movement when subjected to predator cues. The feeding rates of Gammarus spp. exposed to propranolol were more than 2 times higher at all concentrations compared to the control. Ibuprofen did not significantly affect any of the measured parameters of Gammarus spp. The GP/R was lower in algae exposed to propranolol. The effects of propranolol on both behaviour and physiology of Gammarus spp., in combination with the stress responses in the algae, might cause unexpected indirect and cascade effects which eventually could have implications at both community and ecosystem scales. © Inter-Research 2011.