Tues Nov 12 // From mechanisms to populations: Assessing the ecological consequences of emerging pollutants for aquatic organisms

Dr. Erin McCallum
Department of Wildlife, Fish & Environmental Studies
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Tues. Nov 12     10:30AM – 11:30AM, in Biosciences 1102

Human use of synthetic chemical compounds, such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products, is on the rise in developed countries. Many of these chemicals are discharged into freshwater ecosystems via, for example, municipal wastewater effluents. While the concentrations in surface waters are often unlikely to cause direct mortality, there is rising concern about how chronic exposure to sub-lethal amounts of these pollutants may directly or indirectly affect animal fitness. I will discuss a series of experiments I conducted addressing how pharmaceuticals and municipal wastewater effluents impact wild fish across scales of biological organization, from physiology to behaviour to changes in fish community composition. I will compare my results from controlled laboratory studies with findings from in situ field exposures and from studies using animal tracking technologies. Our current understanding of how chemical contaminants affect aquatic organisms is largely based on individual-level responses. Yet, understanding and mitigating the impacts of anthropogenic pollution requires knowledge of how pollutants affect animals in their natural social environment and habitats. I will therefore highlight how my research program is closing these knowledge gaps by focusing on complex inter- and intra-specific interactions (e.g., predator-prey, social dominance) in realistic environments.