One challenge for freshwater contaminant research is to understand whether low, non-toxic concentrations have non-lethal effects on freshwater animals, for example via behavioural changes. Another challenge is to understand potential lateral transfers of contaminants from freshwaters to land via emergent aquatic insects and under which circumstances such transfers are most prevalent. A third challenge is to quantify the importance of non-lethal effects observed in laboratory studies relative to natural drivers of ecosystem functioning. I will discuss these challenges, with examples from my own and other people research.
Dr. Micael Jonsson is a lecturer at the department of Ecology, Environment and Geoscience at Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. He has a broad background in ecological research, in both freshwater and terrestrial systems, and has studied behavioural and ecological effects of contaminants in freshwaters, and aquatic-terrestrial interactions, for over a decade.
