Freshwater ecosystems at risk due to glyphosate use
by McGill University
September 7, 2021
A series of recent research papers from a McGill-led team has found that the herbicide glyphosate—commonly sold under the label Roundup—can alter the structure of natural freshwater bacterial and zooplankton communities. Notably, the researchers found that for zooplankton, aquatic concentrations of 0.1 mg/L glyphosate were sufficient to cause diversity loss.
“Because plankton form the foundation of the food chain in freshwater ecosystems, it is very important to understand how plankton communities respond to widely used pesticides,” said Jesse Shapiro, an Associate Professor in McGill’s Department of Microbiology & Immunology. “Our research shows that the structure of these communities can be impaired under currently acceptable North American water quality guidelines.”
Keep reading: https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/freshwater-ecosystems-risk-due-glyphosate-use-333104
Read the Ecological Applications paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eap.2423