Combined effects of copper, desiccation, and frost on the viability of earthworm cocoons

Abstract

AbstractThe effects of heavy metal pollution on earthworms have been extensively studied, but no studies have examined how earthworms react if they are simultaneously exposed to metal pollution and climatic stress. This question has been addressed in a laboratory study where cocoons of Aporrectodea caliginosa and Dendrobaena octaedra were initially exposed to copper in aqueous solutions of copper chloride and thereafter exposed to realistic degrees of either desiccation or frost. Earthworm embryos absorbed copper in amounts (up to approx. 200 mg/kg dry tissue weight) comparable to concentrations found in various tissues of earthworms from metal‐polluted soils. Desiccation and copper exposure in combination had synergistic effects on survival rates for both species. For example, at full saturation, the NOEC (the highest tested concentration with no statistically significant effect) for copper of A. caliginosa was 12 mg/L, whereas at 97% relative humidity it was only 6 mg/L. Frost and copper exposure in combination also showed synergistic effects in some experiments. No cocoons of A. caliginosa exposed to 20 mg copper/L were viable after exposure to −3°C but at 0°C viability was as high as 95%. The same tendency was seen in D. octaedra but not as clearly as in A. caliginosa. A change of the environmental conditions (moisture, temperature) to increasing severity caused a shift in the statistically derived NOEC toward lower critical values of copper. The involvement of combination effects in ecotoxicological tests could therefore improve risk assessment of soil‐polluting compounds.