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.
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.”
Read more at: McGill University
One of the few species that was found to be resistant to severe glyphosate contamination was Scapholeberis mucronata, a freshwater zooplankter commonly found in Québec and elsewhere in North America. (Photo Credit: Marie-Pier Hébert)
