PCB concentrations in riparian spiders (Tetragnathidae) consistently reflect concentrations in water and aquatic macroinvertebrates, but not sediment: Analysis of a seven-year field study

Science of the Total Environment
By: , and 

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Abstract

Tetragnathid spiders have been used as sentinels to study the biotransport of contaminants between aquatic and terrestrial environments because a significant proportion of their diet consists of adult aquatic insects. A key knowledge gap in assessing tetragnathid spiders as sentinels is understanding the consistency of the year-to-year relationship between contaminant concentrations in spiders and sediment, water, and macroinvertebrates. We collected five years of data over a seven-year investigation at a PCB contaminated-sediment site to investigate if concentrations in spiders were consistently correlated with concentrations in sediment, water, and aquatic macroinvertebrates. Despite significant year-to-year variability in spider PCB concentrations, they were not correlated with sediment concentrations (p = 0.186). However, spider PCB concentrations were significantly, positively correlated with PCB concentrations in water (p < 0.0001, annual r2 = 0.35–0.84) and macroinvertebrates (p < 0.0001; annual r2 = 0.59–0.71). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that spider PCB concentrations varied consistently with water (β = 0.63) and macroinvertebrate PCB concentrations (β = 1.023) among years. Overall, this study filled a critical knowledge gap in the utilization of tetragnathid spiders as sentinels of aquatic pollution by showing that despite year-to-year changes in PCB concentrations across environmental compartments, consistent relationships existed between spiders and water and aquatic macroinvertebrates.


Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title PCB concentrations in riparian spiders (Tetragnathidae) consistently reflect concentrations in water and aquatic macroinvertebrates, but not sediment: Analysis of a seven-year field study
Series title Science of the Total Environment
DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169230
Volume 912
Year Published 2024
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Contributing office(s) Columbia Environmental Research Center
Description 169230, 7 p.
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