Land uses in cities and their impacts on the water quality of urban freshwater blue spaces in the Pampean region (Argentina).

Freshwater blue spaces (FBS), such as ponds, are key elements of the urban landscape and are under strong anthropogenic pressure. Land-use types and diversity may exert a negative or positive impact on FBS' water quality depending on their nature and arrangement. The information available in this respect is remarkably scarcer for water bodies in the Global South than for the north. Thus, we aim to identify and quantify the land-use types in a 500-m buffer zone of urban ponds in the Pampean region (Argentina) to assess their impact on water quality. We based our study on 15 FBS located in neighborhoods of Buenos Aires province during cold and warm seasons. We analyzed physical, chemical, and biological variables, and estimated water conditions by means of water quality indexes (WQIs) and quality guidelines. We quantified the dominant land-use type and the diversity of uses in the ponds' buffer zones, and evaluated their relationships with WQIs. Our results showed that WQIs were negatively related to a high proportion of residential areas in the adjacent zone, while positively to recreational ones. The diversity of land uses did not influence the water quality. We propose a new WQIpond with fewer key response variables, and as sensitive as the currently used WQIobjetive. We conclude that water quality from urban ponds in the Pampean region can be affected by dominant land-use type in the adjacent area but also the quality of their water supply sources (superficial and/or underground), clandestine wastewater discharges, and non-point pollution.

Rethinking the term "glyphosate effect" through the evaluation of different glyphosate-based herbicide effects over aquatic microbial communities.

Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) -the most widely used herbicides in agriculture worldwide-are frequently generalized by the name of "glyphosate". However, GBH encompass a variety of glyphosate salts as active ingredient and different adjuvants, which differ between products. These herbicides reach water bodies and produce diverse impacts over aquatic communities. Yet, the risk assessment assays required for the approval focus mostly on active ingredients. Herein, we compared the effect of five different GBH as well as of monoisopropylamine salt of glyphosate (GIPA) on aquatic microbial communities from natural shallow lakes that were mixed and allowed to evolve in an outdoor pond. We performed an 8-day long assay under indoor control conditions to evaluate the effects of exposure on the structure of nano-plus microphytoplankton (net phytoplankton, with sizes between 2 and 20 µm and >20 µm, respectively) and picoplankton (size ranging between 0.2 and 2 µm) communities through microscopy and flow cytometry, respectively. Significantly different effects were evident on the structure of microbial communities dependent on the GBH, even with herbicides sharing similar active ingredients. Each GBH evoked increases of different magnitude in bacterioplankton abundance. Furthermore, GIPA and a formulation decreased the abundance of a phycocyanin-rich (PC-rich) picocyanobacteria (Pcy) cytometric population and GIPA further altered Pcy composition. Also, two GBH increased net phytoplankton total abundance and, unlike the tested GBH, no apparent effect of GIPA was detected on this community structure. These results demonstrate that GBH effects on aquatic microbial communities should not be summarized as "glyphosate" effects considering that the formulations have effects beyond those exerted by the active ingredients alone. This work intends to alert on the lack of real knowledge regarding the consequences of the variety of GBH on natural aquatic ecosystems. Indeed, the wide use of the term "glyphosate effect" should be thoroughly rethought.

First evaluation of the periphyton recovery after glyphosate exposure.

The potential environmental risk of glyphosate has promoted the need for decontamination of glyphosate-polluted water bodies. These treatments should be accompanied by studies of the recovery potential of aquatic communities and ecosystems. We evaluated the potential of freshwater periphyton to recover from glyphosate exposure using microcosms under laboratory conditions. Periphyton developed on artificial substrates was exposed to 0.4 or 4 mg l-1 monoisopropylamine salt of glyphosate (IPA) for 7 days, followed by translocation to herbicide-free water. We sampled the community 1, 2 and 3 weeks after the transfer. Dry weight, ash-free dry weight, chlorophyll a, and periphyton abundances were analysed. The periphyton impacted with the lowest IPA concentration recovered most of the structural parameters within 7 days in clean water, but the taxonomic structure did not entirely recover towards the control structure. Periphyton exposed to 4 mg IPA l-1 could not recover during 21 days in herbicide-free water, reaching values almost four times higher in % of dead diatoms and four times lower in ash-free dry weight concerning the control at the end of the study. Results suggest a long-lasting effect of the herbicide due to the persistence within the community matrix even after translocating periphyton to decontaminated water. We conclude that the exposure concentration modulates the recovery potential of IPA-impacted periphyton. The current research is the first to study the recovery in glyphosate-free water of periphyton exposed to the most commonly used herbicide in the world. Finally, we highlight the need for more studies focused on the recovery potential of freshwater ecosystems and aquatic communities after glyphosate contamination.

New findings on the effect of glyphosate on autotrophic and heterotrophic picoplankton structure: A microcosm approach.

Massive use of glyphosate-based herbicides in agricultural activities has led to the appearance of this herbicide in freshwater systems, which represents a potential threat to these systems and their communities. These herbicides can affect autotrophic and heterotrophic picoplankton abundance. However, little is known about glyphosate impact on the whole structure of these assemblages. Herein, we used an 8-day long microcosm approach under indoor controlled conditions to analyze changes in the structure of picoplankton exposed to a single pulse of glyphosate. The analyzed picoplankton correspond to two outdoor ponds with contrasting states: "clear" (chlorophyll-a = 3.48 µg L-1± 1.15; nephelometric turbidity, NTU = 1) and "turbid" (chlorophyll-a = 105.96 µg L-1 ± 15.3; NTU = 48). We evaluated herbicide impact on different picoplankton cytometric populations and further explored changes in bacterial dominant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) fingerprinting. We observed that glyphosate induced a drastic decrease in the abundance of phycocyanin-rich picocyanobacteria. Particularly, in the turbid system this effect resulted in an 85 % decrease in the abundance of the whole autotrophic picoplankton. Glyphosate also changed the structure of the heterotrophic fraction by means of changing bacterial dominant OTUs fingerprinting patterns in both systems and by shifting the relative abundances of cytometric groups in the clear scenario. These results demonstrate that upon glyphosate exposure picoplanktonic fractions face not only the already reported changes in abundance, but also alterations in the composition of cytometric groups and of bacterial dominant operational taxonomic units. This research provides suitable and still little explored tools to analyze agrochemical effects on picoplanktonic communities.

Direct and indirect effects of the glyphosate formulation Glifosato Atanor® on freshwater microbial communities.

Glyphosate-based formulations are among the most widely used herbicides in the world. The effect of the formulation Glifosato Atanor(®) on freshwater microbial communities (phytoplankton, bacterioplankton, periphyton and zooplankton) was assessed through a manipulative experiment using six small outdoor microcosms of small volume. Three of the microcosms were added with 3.5 mg l(-1) of glyphosate whereas the other three were left as controls without the herbicide. The treated microcosms showed a significant increase in total phosphorus, not fully explained by the glyphosate present in the Glifosato Atanor(®). Therefore, part of the phosphorus should have come from the surfactants of the formulation. The results showed significant direct and indirect effects of Glifosato Atanor(®) on the microbial communities. A single application of the herbicide caused a fast increase both in the abundance of bacterioplankton and planktonic picocyanobacteria and in chlorophyll a concentration in the water column. Although metabolic alterations related to oxidative stress were induced in the periphyton community, the herbicide favored its development, with a large contribution of filamentous algae typical of nutrient-rich systems, with shallow and calm waters. An indirect effect of the herbicide on the zooplankton was observed due to the increase in the abundance of the rotifer Lecane spp. as a consequence of the improved food availability given by picocyanobacteria and bacteria. The formulation affected directly a fraction of copepods as a target. It was concluded that the Glifosato Atanor(®) accelerates the deterioration of the water quality, especially when considering small-volume water systems.