Abstract
ABSTRACT Despite the extensive use of antibiotics, their effects on non-target soil organisms are poorly explored. An antibiotics feeding assay was carried out on the cosmopolitan species Porcellionides pruinosus to monitor their effect on its life history. Four groups of juvenile isopods were fed a control diet (C) or a diet containing ciprofloxacin (CIP), streptomycin (STR) or trimethoprim (TMP), respectively, weighed and counted at dispatching, 1 and 3 months later. Ciprofloxacin and streptomycin act positively on the growth rate, the body size of the reproductive female and fertility, differently to trimethoprim. Survival did not differ significantly among the diet groups; however, it seems that juveniles fed on antibiotics, especially streptomycin and trimethoprim, exhibited a tendency towards decreased survival. Our data provide experimental support that antibiotics have different effects on the performance of P. pruinosus depending on the particular antibiotic treatment.
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