Impacts of an anxiolytic drug on fish behaviour and habitat use in a natural landscape
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12520%2F25%3A43910115" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12520/25:43910115 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.1443" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.1443</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.1443" target="_blank" >10.1098/rspb.2025.1443</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Impacts of an anxiolytic drug on fish behaviour and habitat use in a natural landscape
Original language description
Pharmaceutical contaminants reaching natural aquatic ecosystems can affect fish behaviour, modifying activity patterns, foraging behaviour and antipredator responses. While laboratory-based studies can offer key insights, assessing the ecological relevance of these findings requires field-based approaches. Therefore, we examined the effects of oxazepam, a widely prescribed anxiolytic drug, on the behaviour of a cyprinid fish (the common roach, Rutilus rutilus) in the wild, combining slow-release exposure implants with continuous tracking via acoustic telemetry. To add ecological realism, we created a landscape of fear with an uneven distribution of resources (macrophytes) and exposure to predators (pike, Esox lucius), additionally testing the effects of the drug on roach habitat selection and predator-prey interactions. Fish exposed to the drug showed an increased swimming activity and speed, but exhibited a more constrained spatial distribution in the pond, favouring areas with higher refuge availability. Both exposed and unexposed fish modified their habitat use in the presence of predators. Exposed fish appeared to get closer to the predators when these were caged, but not when predators were free-roaming. Our findings highlight the importance of considering ecological context to understand how pharmaceuticals affect fish behaviour, which is crucial for assessing risks at population and ecosystem levels.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10511 - Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7)
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B - Biological Sciences
ISSN
0962-8452
e-ISSN
1471-2954
Volume of the periodical
292
Issue of the periodical within the volume
2054
Country of publishing house
GB - UNITED KINGDOM
Number of pages
12
Pages from-to
nestránkováno
UT code for WoS article
001568688600004
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-105015402864