What causes variability in the Folsomia candida reproduction test?

• Published in: Applied soil ecology : a section of Agriculture, ecosystems & environment Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 175 - 180
• Main Authors: Crouau, Y., Cazes, L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.02.2003; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Collembolan; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on protozoa and invertebrates; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Reproduction; Soil and water pollution; Soil science; Toxicity testing; Variability; Reproduction; Variability; Toxicity testing; Collembolan; Meiofauna; Folsomia candida; Cadmium; Ecotoxicology; Fauna; Reproductive pattern; Toxicity; Insecta; Biological indicator; Soil pollution; Heavy metal; Soil fauna; Isotomidae; Response variability; Arthropoda; Interindividual comparison; Collembola; Pollutant effect; Invertebrata
• ISSN: 0929-1393; 1873-0272
• DOI: 10.1016/S0929-1393(02)00128-2

Large variability is often observed in results of the Folsomia candida reproduction test [ISO 11267, Soil quality—inhibition of reproduction of Collembola ( Folsomia candida) by soil pollutants. Inter. Stand. Org. Ed. Genève. (1998) 1–16] and can be detrimental to the test sensitivity. So, we investigated the effects of certain parameters (small differences of ambient temperature and age of the animals) on the variability of reproduction of F. candida. We show that a 1 °C difference has no perceptible effect but that a 1 day difference in age has. Studying the reproduction of isolated individuals shows that a strong apparent interindividual variability exists. Lastly, we compared the variability of reproduction in two tests differing from one another in duration; variability was clearly decreased by lengthening the test.