Physiological responses of spiders to environmental pollution in the Silesian Region (Southern Poland)

Abstract

The authors studied how environmental conditions in variously polluted regions might influence metabolic reactions in 5 species of spiders which differ with a way of hunting, web construction, behaviour, spatial distribution and systematic position. Concentration of adenine phosphonucleotides, metal body burdens and assays of selected metabolic enzymes were used as indicators of multistress impact of pollutants in spiders collected at three contaminated areas and one control site in Southern Poland. Both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism were the lowest, but the level of ATP was kept high in spiders from areas where heavy metals dominated as the stressing factors. In Jaworzno, where organic and gaseous pollutants predominate, all Araneidae species showed higher aerobic activity, while Linyphiidae rose anaerobic activity, but maintained high levels of ADP and total adenylate pool with the lowest AEC index (below 0.7). Metal burdens were species-dependent and correlate well with concentrations of metals in spiders milieu. The participation of other interacting pollutants in overall effect on biochemical and physiological changes in spiders depend on their total concentration, chemical form and interdependencies on various organisation level of an organism of spider.