SPEARpesticides
{{Short description|Biological indicator in streams}}
SPEARpesticides (Species At Risk) is a trait based biological indicator system for streams which quantitatively links pesticide contamination to the composition of macroinvertebrate communities.Liess M, von der Ohe PC 2005. Analyzing effects of pesticides on invertebrate communities in streams. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.24, (4): 954-965. The approach uses species traits that characterize the ecological requirements posed by pesticide contamination in running waters. Therefore, it is highly specific and only slightly influenced by other environmental factors.Liess M, Schäfer R, Schriever C, 2008. The footprint of pesticide stress in communities - species traits reveal community effects of toxicants.Science of the Total Environment, 406, 484-490. SPEARpesticides is linked to the quality classes of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD)Beketov MA, Liess M, 2008. An indicator for effects of organic toxicants on lotic invertebrate communities: independence of confounding environmental factors over an extensive river continuum.Environmental Pollution, 156, 980-987.
History
SPEARpesticides has been first developed for Central Germany and updated.{{Cite journal|last1=Knillmann|first1=Saskia|last2=Orlinskiy|first2=Polina|last3=Kaske|first3=Oliver|last4=Foit|first4=Kaarina|last5=Liess|first5=Matthias|date=2018-07-15|title=Indication of pesticide effects and recolonization in streams|journal=Science of the Total Environment|volume=630|pages=1619–1627|doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.056|pmid=29554778|issn=0048-9697|bibcode=2018ScTEn.630.1619K|s2cid=3969741 }} SPEARpesticides was adapted and validated for streams and mesocosms worldwide and provides the first ecotoxicological approach to specifically determine the ecological effects of pesticides on aquatic invertebrate communities. Argentina,{{Cite journal |last1=Hunt |first1=L. |last2=Bonetto |first2=C. |last3=Marrochi |first3=N. |last4=Scalise |first4=A. |last5=Fanelli |first5=S. |last6=Liess |first6=M. |last7=Lydy |first7=M.J. |last8=Chiu |first8=M.-C. |last9=Resh |first9=V.H. |date=February 2017 |title=Species at Risk (SPEAR) index indicates effects of insecticides on stream invertebrate communities in soy production regions of the Argentine Pampas |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0048969716327012 |journal=Science of the Total Environment |language=en |volume=580 |pages=699–709 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.016|pmid=27986319 |hdl=11336/65580 |hdl-access=free }} AustraliaBurgert S, Schäfer R, Foit K, Kattwinkel M, Metzeling M, MacEwand R, Kefford BJ, Liess M. 2011. Modelling Aquatic Exposure and Effects of Insecticides - Application to South-Eastern Australia. Science of the Total Environment. 409. 2807-2814.Schäfer RB, Kefford B, Metzeling L, Liess M, Burgert S, Marchant R, Pettigrove V, Goonan P, Nugegoda D. 2011. A trait database of stream invertebrates for the ecological risk assessment of single and combined effects of salinity and pesticides in South-East Australia.Science of the Total Environment, 406, 484-490. Denmark,Rasmussen JJ, McKnight US, Loinaz MC, Thomsen NI, Olsson ME, Bjerg PL, Binning PJ, Kronvang, B. 2013. A catchment scale evaluation of multiple stressor effects in headwater streams. Science of the Total Environment. 442, 420-431.Schäfer R, vd Ohe P, Rasmussen J, Kefford B, Beketov M, Schulz R, Liess M. 2012. Thresholds for the effects of pesticides on invertebrate communities and leaf breakdown in stream ecosystems. ES&T. 2012, 46, 5134−5142. Finland, France, Germany,{{Cite journal |last1=Liess |first1=Matthias |last2=Liebmann |first2=Liana |last3=Vormeier |first3=Philipp |last4=Weisner |first4=Oliver |last5=Altenburger |first5=Rolf |last6=Borchardt |first6=Dietrich |last7=Brack |first7=Werner |last8=Chatzinotas |first8=Antonis |last9=Escher |first9=Beate |last10=Foit |first10=Kaarina |last11=Gunold |first11=Roman |last12=Henz |first12=Sebastian |last13=Hitzfeld |first13=Kristina L. |last14=Schmitt-Jansen |first14=Mechthild |last15=Kamjunke |first15=Norbert |date=2021-08-01 |title=Pesticides are the dominant stressors for vulnerable insects in lowland streams |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135421004607 |journal=Water Research |volume=201 |pages=117262 |doi=10.1016/j.watres.2021.117262 |pmid=34118650 |issn=0043-1354}} Kenya,{{Cite journal |last1=Ganatra |first1=Akbar A. |last2=Kandie |first2=Faith Jebiwot |last3=Fillinger |first3=Ulrike |last4=McOdimba |first4=Francis |last5=Torto |first5=Baldwyn |last6=Brack |first6=Werner |last7=Liess |first7=Matthias |last8=Hollert |first8=Henner |last9=Becker |first9=Jeremias M. |date=2021 |title=Calibration of the SPEARpesticides bioindicator for cost-effective pesticide monitoring in East African streams |journal=Environmental Sciences Europe |language=en |volume=33 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/s12302-021-00497-9 |doi-access=free |issn=2190-4707}} Switzerland, USA,{{Cite journal |last1=Chiu |first1=Ming-Chih |last2=Hunt |first2=Lisa |last3=Resh |first3=Vincent H. |date=2016 |title=Response of macroinvertebrate communities to temporal dynamics of pesticide mixtures: A case study from the Sacramento River watershed, California |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0269749116313215 |journal=Environmental Pollution |language=en |volume=219 |pages=89–98 |doi=10.1016/j.envpol.2016.09.048}} RussiaSchletterer M, Füreder L, Kuzovlev VV, Beketov MA. 2010. Testing the coherence of several macroinvertebrate indices and environmental factors in a large lowland river system (Volga River, Russia). Ecological Indicators. 10(6):1083-1092.
Calculation
SPEARpesticides estimates pesticide effects and contamination. The calculation is based on monitoring data of invertebrate communities as ascertained for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). A simplified version of SPEARpesticides is included in the [http://www.fliessgewaesserbewertung.de ASTERICS] software for assessing the ecological quality of rivers. A detailed analysis is enabled by the free [http://www.systemecology.eu/spearcalc/ SPEAR Calculator]. The [http://www.systemecology.eu/spearcalc/ SPEAR Calculator] provides most recent information on species traits and allows specific user settings.
The SPEARpesticides index is computed as relative abundance of vulnerable 'SPecies At Risk' (SPEAR) to be affected by pesticides. Relevant species traits comprises the physiological sensitivity towards pesticides, generation time, migration ability and exposure probability. The indicator value of SPEARpesticides at a sampling site is calculated as follows:
with n = number of taxa; xi = abundance of taxon i; y = 1 if taxon i is classified as SPEAR-sensitive; y = 0 if taxon i is classified as SPEAR-insensitive.
An application is available for the calculation. [https://www.systemecology.de/indicate/ Web address of SPEAR calculator]