Ants avoid food contaminated with micro- and nanoplastics☆

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12520%2F24%3A43908271" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12520/24:43908271 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124625" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124625</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124625" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.envpol.2024.124625</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Ants avoid food contaminated with micro- and nanoplastics☆

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

Micro- and nanoplastics (MNP) have recently received particular attention in freshwater and marine ecosystems, but less is known about their impact on terrestrial species. Ants can be used as biological indicators for many types of pollutants and are therefore a good candidate to explore the effects of MNP pollution. In the present study, we investigated the ability of workers from seven colonies of the acrobat ant Crematogaster scutellaris to detect MNP in their food. After two days of starvation, groups of ten ants were tested for their preference toward control and polyethylene-treated solutions. Every 5 min over a total 20 min period, the number of workers feeding on either solution was counted. The results showed that C. scutellaris workers could detect and avoid contaminated food, feeding more often on the uncontaminated solution in the first 10 min. However, after 10 min the food preference was no longer significant between the groups, likely owing to feeding satiation. We then assessed whether this feeding behaviour is sufficient to cause the accumulation of MNP in the ant. We thereby provided a solution containing fluorescent MNP (fMNP) at the same concentration as in the previous experiments. Observation of the ants&apos; mouthparts using fluorescent light microscopy showed that after 10 min dense aggregations of fMNP were visible. Further investigations are needed to understand the mechanisms of detection of MNP by ants, and the accumulation dynamics in ants&apos; bodies. Moreover, the effects of MNP on the integrity and fitness of ant colonies, as well as the potential transfer across terrestrial trophic chains should be explored.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Ants avoid food contaminated with micro- and nanoplastics☆

Popis výsledku anglicky

Micro- and nanoplastics (MNP) have recently received particular attention in freshwater and marine ecosystems, but less is known about their impact on terrestrial species. Ants can be used as biological indicators for many types of pollutants and are therefore a good candidate to explore the effects of MNP pollution. In the present study, we investigated the ability of workers from seven colonies of the acrobat ant Crematogaster scutellaris to detect MNP in their food. After two days of starvation, groups of ten ants were tested for their preference toward control and polyethylene-treated solutions. Every 5 min over a total 20 min period, the number of workers feeding on either solution was counted. The results showed that C. scutellaris workers could detect and avoid contaminated food, feeding more often on the uncontaminated solution in the first 10 min. However, after 10 min the food preference was no longer significant between the groups, likely owing to feeding satiation. We then assessed whether this feeding behaviour is sufficient to cause the accumulation of MNP in the ant. We thereby provided a solution containing fluorescent MNP (fMNP) at the same concentration as in the previous experiments. Observation of the ants&apos; mouthparts using fluorescent light microscopy showed that after 10 min dense aggregations of fMNP were visible. Further investigations are needed to understand the mechanisms of detection of MNP by ants, and the accumulation dynamics in ants&apos; bodies. Moreover, the effects of MNP on the integrity and fitness of ant colonies, as well as the potential transfer across terrestrial trophic chains should be explored.

Druh

J_imp - Článek v periodiku v databázi Web of Science

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

10618 - Ecology

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2024

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Environmental Pollution

ISSN

0269-7491

e-ISSN

1873-6424

Svazek periodika

360

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

neuvedeno

Stát vydavatele periodika

GB - Spojené království Velké Británie a Severního Irska

Počet stran výsledku

7

Strana od-do

—

Kód UT WoS článku

001287594900001

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-85200153923