Abstract
Glyphosate is the number one herbicide in the world. We investigated the sub-lethal effects of this herbicide on the aphid Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker), using an age-stage, two-sex life table approach. Three concentrations of the herbicide (low - 33.5, medium - 66.9 and high - 133.8 mmol dm−3 of active ingredient) and distilled water as the control were used. The LC50 of the IPA salt of glyphosate on M. dirhodum was equivalent to 174.9 mmol dm−3 of the active ingredient (CI95: 153.0, 199.0). The population parameters were significantly negatively affected by herbicide application, and this negative effect was progressive with the increasing concentration of the herbicide. A difference of two orders of magnitude existed in the predicted population development of M. dirhodum between the high concentration of the herbicide and the control. This is the first study that comprehensively documents such a negative effect on the population of an herbivorous insect.
Highlights
Glyphosate is the number one herbicide in the world
The mortality of M. dirhodum increased with the increasing concentration of herbicide (Fig. 1)
The reproduction parameters were affected by herbicide treatments; the lowest concentration of herbicide did not show any indication of negative effects, and the duration of the pre-oviposition period was even slightly shorter than for the control (Table 2)
Summary
Glyphosate is the number one herbicide in the world. We investigated the sub-lethal effects of this herbicide on the aphid Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker), using an age-stage, two-sex life table approach. A difference of two orders of magnitude existed in the predicted population development of M. dirhodum between the high concentration of the herbicide and the control. This is the first study that comprehensively documents such a negative effect on the population of an herbivorous insect. Glyphosate is traditionally considered to be a chemical with relatively low ecological and toxicological side effects in terrestrial ecosystems[4,6,10] because the active ingredient inactivates rapidly when it reaches the soil surface[4,9,11], but in aquatic environments it is known to be highly toxic[12] and recently it became suspected to be carcinogenic to humans[13]. The most studied aspect of eco-toxicological research is the assessment of direct mortality caused by the focal substance or product to non-target organisms, the study of sub-lethal effects, i.e., effects on individual www.nature.com/scientificreports/
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