Porcellio scaber Latreille (Crustacea: Isopoda) of one month in age were reared for a year on leaf litter of field maple (Acer campestre) contaminated in the laboratory with a range of concentrations of cadmium, copper, lead or zinc. The metals were applied topically to the leaves as nitrates. Growth and survival, numbers of live offspring produced by females that matured, and concentrations of metals in adult isopods at the end of the experiment were measured.
‘Critical concentrations’ of metals in food at which all the isopods died before producing offspring were 100 μg Cd g−1, 100 μg Cu g−1, 2000 μg Pb g−1 and 1000 μg Zn g−1 (on a dry weight basis). The relative toxicities of the four metals in the laboratory were compared with concentrations of cadmium, copper, lead and zinc in surface leaf litter in the vicinity of a primary smelting works at Avonmouth, South West England. The results support the hypothesis that the absence of Porcellio scaber from sites in the immediate vicinity of the factory is due to zinc poisoning. Although cadmium is approximately ten times more toxic to isopods than zinc in the laboratory, zinc is most likely to be killing isopods in the field because its concentration is always at least 30 times higher than cadmium in Avonmouth leaf litter, and more than 100 times higher at most sites.
Populations of Porcellio scaber survive in field sites where surface leaf litter contains up to 5000 μg Zn g−1. This is at least five times higher than the ‘critical concentration’ in laboratory experiments. Thus, the methodology for assessing metal toxicity described in this paper, exaggerates the potential effects of metals to isopods in the field. Such differences between laboratory and field toxicities of metals should be taken into account when environmental protection levels for metals are being proposed for soil invertebrates based on ecotoxicological tests conducted in the laboratory.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boardman, R. and McGuire, D.O. (1990a) The role of zinc in forestry. I. Zinc in forest environments, ecosystems and tree nutrition. Forestry Ecology and Management 37, 167–205.
Boardman, R. and McGuire, D.O. (1990b) The role of zinc in forestry. II. Zinc deficiency and forest management: effect on yield and silviculture of Pinus radiata plantations in South Australia. Forestry Ecology and Management 37, 207–18.
Cairns, J. (1992) The threshold problem in ecotoxicology. Ecotoxicology 1, 3–16.
Calow, P. (1989) Ecotoxicology? J. Zoology 218, 701–4.
Carnes, R.A., Santoleri, J.J. and McHale, S.H. (1992) Metals and incinerators: the latest regulatory phase. J. Hazardous Materials 30, 343–53.
Dallinger, R. (1993). Strategies of metal detoxification in terrestrial invertebrates. In Dallinger, R. and Rainbow, P.S. eds. Ecotoxicology of metals in invertebrates, pp. 245–89. Chelsea, USA: Lewis.
Dallinger, R., Berger, B. and Birkel, S. (1992) Terrestrial isopods: useful bioindicators of urban metal pollution. Oecologia 89, 32–41.
Donker, M.H. (1992) Energy reserves and distribution of metals in populations of the isopod Porcellio scaber from metal contaminated sites. Functional Ecology 6, 445–54.
Donker, M.H. and Bogert, C.G. (1991) Adaptation to cadmium in three populations of the isopod Porcellio scaber. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 100C, 143–6.
Donker, M.H., VanCapelleveen, H.E. and VanStraalen, N.M. (1993) Metal contamination affects size-structure and life-history dynamics in isopod field populations. In Dallinger, R. and Rainbow, P.S. eds. Ecotoxicology of metals in invertebrates, pp. 383–99. Chelsea, USA: Lewis.
Eijsacker, H. (1991) Litter fragmentation by isopods as affected by herbicide application. Netherlands J. Zoology 41, 277–303.
Greig-Smith, P.W., Becker, H., Edwards, P.J. and Heimbach, F. (eds.) (1992) Ecotoxicology of Earthworms. Andover: Intercept
Harrison, R.M. and Williams, C.R. (1983) Physico-chemical characterization of atmospheric trace metal emissions from a primary zinc-lead smelter. Science of the Total Environment, 31, 129–140.
Hopkin, S.P. (1989) Ecophysiology of Metals in Terrestrial Invertebrates. Barking: Elsevier Applied Science.
Hopkin, S.P. (1990) Species-specific differences in the net assimilation of zinc, cadmium, lead, copper and iron by the terrestrial isopods Oniscus asellus and Porcellio scaber. J. Appl. Ecol. 27, 460–74.
Hopkin, S.P. (1991) A key to the woodlice of Britain and Ireland. Field Studies 7, 599–650.
Hopkin, S.P. (1993a) In situ biological monitoring of pollution in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In Calow, P. (ed.) Handbook of Ecotoxicology Volume 1, pp. 397–427. Oxford: Blackwell;
Hopkin, S.P. (1993b) Deficiency and excess of copper in terrestrial isopods. In Dallinger, R. and Rainbow, P.S. (eds.) Ecotoxicology of metals in invertebrates, pp. 359–82. Chelsea, USA: Lewis
Hopkin, S.P., Hardisty, G.N. and Martin, M.H. (1986) The woodlouse Porcellio scaber as a ‘biological indicator’ of zinc, cadmium, lead and copper pollution. Environmental Pollution (Series B) 11, 271–90.
Hopkin, S.P., Jones, D.T. and Dietrich, D. (in press) The terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber as a monitor of the bioavailability of metals: towards a global ‘woodlouse watch’ scheme. Science of the Total Environment.
Jones, D.T. (1991) Biological Monitoring of Metal Pollution in Terrestrial Ecosystems. PhD Thesis, University of Reading.
Spurgeon, D.T., Hopkin, S.P. and Jones, D.T. (in press) Effects of cadmium, copper, lead and zinc on growth, reproduction and survival of the earthworm Eisenia fetida (Savigny): Assessing the environmental impact of point-source metal contamination in terrestrial ecosystems. Environmental Pollution.
VanGestel, C.A.M. and Ma, W. (1990) An approach to quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) in earthworm toxicity studies. Chemosphere 21, 1023–33.
VanStraalen, N.M. (1993) Soil and sediment quality criteria derived from invertebrate toxicity data. In Dallinger, R. and Rainbow, P.S. (eds.) Ecotoxicology of metals in invertebrates, pp. 427–41. Chelsea, USA: Lewis.
VanWensem, J. (1989) A terrestrial micro-ecosystem for measuring effects of pollutants on isopod-mediated litter decomposition. Hydrobiologia 188/189, 507–16.
VanWensem, J. and Adema, T. (1991) Effects of fluoride on soil fauna mediated litter decomposition. Environmental Pollution 72, 239–51.
VanWensem, J., Jagers op Akkerhuis, G.A.J.M. and VanStraalen, N.M. (1991) Effects of the fungicide triphenyltin hydroxide on soil fauna mediated litter decomposition. Pesticide Science 32, 307–16.
VanWensem, J., Krijgsman, M., Postman, J.F., VanWestrienen, R.W. and Wezenbeek, J.M. (1992) A comparison of test systems for assessing effects of metals on isopod ecological functions. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 24, 203–16.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hopkin, S.P., Hames, C.A.C. Zinc, among a ‘cocktail’ of metal pollutants, is responsible for the absence of the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber from the vicinity of a primary smelting works. Ecotoxicology 3, 68–78 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00121389
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00121389