Tolerance to zinc in populations of the earthworm Lumbricus rubellus from uncontaminated and metal-contaminated ecosystems

• Published in: Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 37; no. 3; pp. 332 - 337
• Main Authors: Spurgeon, D.J, Hopkin, S.P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.10.1999; Berlin Springer Nature B.V; New York, NY
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on protozoa and invertebrates; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Laboratory tests; Lumbricus rubellus; metal tolerance; Metals; polluted soils; Pollution tolerance; Smelters; spatial distribution; toxicology; Zinc; Toxicity; Body weight; Cocoon; Concentration; Soil pollution; Survival; Annelida; Oligochaeta; Biological productivity; Zinc; Heavy metal; Dose activity relation; Pollutant; Sensitivity resistance; Geographic distribution; Lumbricus rubellus; Invertebrata; Biological accumulation
• ISSN: 0090-4341; 1432-0703
• DOI: 10.1007/s002449900522

Zinc tolerance in Lumbricus rubellus populations from two metal-polluted (smelter and mine) sites was studied by comparing the effects of zinc with responses in a reference site strain. For the study, adult worms were collected directly from the field. Thus, no attempt was made to differentiate between tolerance resulting from population-level genetic adaptation or phenotypic plasticity in metal physiology. To compare relative sensitivity for zinc, worms from the three populations were exposed in laboratory tests. Effects on survival, weight change, cocoon production, and internal zinc levels were measured. Prior to exposure, it was anticipated that worms from the metal-contaminated sites would show substantially increased tolerance to zinc. This was not the case for all measured parameters. Thus, although differences in the shape of the dose-response relationships for survival and cocoon production were found, substantial variations in measured responses, effect concentrations, or zinc accumulation rates were not apparent. Overall, therefore, zinc tolerance is unlikely to be a major factor influencing the distribution of L. rubellus in contaminated regions.http://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00244/bibs/37n3p332.html