Abstract
Soil organisms may play an important role in the transfer of metals through the ecosystem in metal-polluted environments. To evaluate this role, four representative species were compared through modelling their toxico-kinetics when exposed to cadmium in chronic laboratory experiments. Considerable differences in consumption and assimilation of food and cadmium were found between the species. Cadmium assimilation correlated with food assimilation. Cadmium excretion and equilibrium concentrations also differed considerably between the species. The differences in equilibrium concentrations were comparable to the differences between these species in the field. Cadmium assimilation efficiencies were high in the predatorsNotiophilus biguttatus andNeobisium muscorum, and were lower in the saprotrophsOrchesella cincta andPlatynothrus peltifer. Excretion constants were high in the insectsN. biguttatus andO. cincta and low in the arachnidsN. muscorum andP. peltifer. There was no direct relationship between assimilation efficiency and excretion ability. The differences in cadmium assimilation efficiencies reflect differences in trophic level and most probably differences in nutrient demand, which may be determined taxonomically. The influence of excretion ability on the equilibrium concentration is larger than that of assimilation efficiency. Species with a high equilibrium concentration combine low excretion ability with either low or high assimilation. Together with compartment modelling, the study of uptake and excretion of cadmium by individual species provides a suitable tool for predicting the amount in the different soil invertebrates and for calculating pollutant fluxes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atkins GL (1969) Multicompartment models for biological systems. Methuen, London
Berger B, Dallinger R (1989) Accumulation of cadmium and copper by the terrestrial snailArianta arbustorum L.: Kinetics and budgets. Oecologia 79:60–65
Beyer WN (1986) A re-examination of biomagnification of metals in terrestrial food chains. Environ Toxicol Chem 5:863–864
Dallinger R, Wieser W (1984) Patterns of accumulation, distribution and liberation of Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb in different organs of the land snailHelix pomatia L. Comp Biochem Physiol 79c:117–124
De Ruiter PC, Ernsting G (1987) Effect of ration on energy allocation in a carabid beetle. Funct Ecol 1:109–116
Hopkin SP (1989) Ecophysiology of metals in terrestrial invertebrates. Elsevier Applied Science, London
Hopkin SP, Martin MH (1984) Assimilation of zinc, cadmium, lead and copper by the centipedeLithobius variegatus (Chilopoda). J Appl Ecol 21:535–546
Hopkin SP, Watson K, Martin MH, Mould ML (1985) The assimilation of heavy metals byLithobius variegatus andGlomeris marginata (Chilopoda; Diplopoda). Bijdr Dierk 55:88–94
Hunter BA, Johnson MS (1982) Food chain relationships of copper and cadmium in contaminated grassland ecosystems. Oikos 38:108–117
Hunter BA, Johnson MS, Thompson DJ (1987) Ecotoxicology of copper and cadmium in a contaminated grassland ecosystem. 2. Invertebrates. J Appl Ecol 24:587–599
Janssen MPM (1988) Species dependent cadmium accumulation by forest litter arthropods. Proc 3rd Internat Conf Environ Cont, Venice. CEP, Edinburgh, pp. 436–438
Janssen MPM, Joosse ENG, Van Straalen NM (1990) Seasonal variation in concentration of cadmium in litter arthropods from a metal contaminated site. Pedobiologia 34:257–267
Knutti R, Bucher P, Stengl M, Stolz M, Tremp J, Ulrich M, Schlaffer C, (1988) Cadmium in the invertebrate fauna of an unpolluted forest in Switzerland. In: Stoeppler M, Piscator M (eds) Cadmium (Environmental Toxin Series 2). Springer Verlag, New York, pp 171–191
Martin MH, Coughtrey PJ (1982) Biological monitoring of heavy metal pollution: Land and air. Applied Science Publishers, London
Moriarty F (1972) The effects of pesticides on wildlife: Exposure and residues. Sci Total Environ 1:267–288
— (1983) Ecotoxicology, the study of pollutants in ecosystems. Academic Press, London
Moriarty F, Walker CH (1987) Bioaccumulation in food chains, a rational approach. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 13:208–215
Niimi AJ (1987) Biological half-lives of chemicals in fishes. Rev Environ Contam Toxicol 99:1–46
Petersen H, Luxton M (1982) A comparative analysis of soil fauna populations and their role in decomposition processes. Oikos 39:287–388
Reichle DE, Dunaway PB, Nelson DJ (1970) Turnover and concentration of radionuclides in food chains. Nucl Saf 11:43–55
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry. WH Freeman, San Francisco
Testerink GJ (1982) Strategies in energy consumption and partitioning in collembola. Ecol Entomol 7:341–351
Thomas JOM (1979) An energy budget for a woodland population of oribatid mites. Pedobiologia 19:346–378
Van Hook RI, Yates AJ (1975) Transient behavior of cadmium in a grassland arthropod food chain. Environ Res 9:76–83
Van Straalen NM, Van Wensem J (1986) Heavy metal content of forest litter arthropods as related to body-size and trophic level. Environ Pollut (series A) 42:209–221
Van Straalen NM, Burghouts TBA, Doornhof MJ, Groot GM, Janssen MPM, Joosse ENG, Van Meerendonk JH, Theeuwen JPJJ, Verhoef HA, Zoomer RH (1987) Efficiency of lead and cadmium excretion in populations ofOrchesella cincta (Collembola) from various contaminated forest soils. J Appl Ecol 24:953–968
Van Straalen NM, Schobben JHM, De Goede RGM (1989) Population consequences of cadmium toxicity in soil microarthropods. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 17:190–204
Weygoldt P (1969) The biology of pseudoscorpions. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA
Wieser W (1979) The flow of copper through a terrestrial food web. In: Nriagu JO (ed) Copper in the environment, part 1. John Wiley & Sons, New York
Williamson P (1980) Variables affecting body burdens of lead zinc and cadmium in a roadside population of the snailCepaea hortensis Müller. Oecologia 44:213–220
Wolters V (1985) Resource allocation inTomocerus flavescens (Insecta, Collembola): A study with C14-labelled food. Oecologia 65:229–235
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Janssen, M.P.M., Bruins, A., De Vries, T.H. et al. Comparison of cadmium kinetics in four soil arthropod species. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 20, 305–312 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01064395
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01064395