title: Multigenerational contaminant exposures produce non-monotonic, transgenerational responses in Daphnia magna.
abstract: Generally, ecotoxicologists rely on short-term tests that assume populations to be static. Conversely, natural populations may be exposed to the same stressors for many generations, which can alter tolerance to the same (or other) stressors. The objective of this study was to improve our understanding of how multigenerational stressors alter life history traits and stressor tolerance. After continuously exposing Daphnia magna to cadmium for 120 days, we assessed life history traits and conducted a challenge at higher temperature and cadmium concentrations. Predictably, individuals exposed to cadmium showed an overall decrease in reproductive output compared to controls. Interestingly, control D. magna were the most cadmium tolerant to novel cadmium, followed by those exposed to high cadmium. Our data suggest that long-term exposure to cadmium alter tolerance traits in a non-monotonic way. Because we observed effects after one-generation removal from cadmium, transgenerational effects may be possible as a result of multigenerational exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Toxicology, The Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, 1207 Gilbert Drive, Lubbock, TX 79416, USA; Department of Biology, Westminster College, 442 Meldrum Science Center, Salt Lake City, UT 84105, USA. Electronic address: dkimberly@westminstercollege.edu.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kimberly
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Toxicology, The Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, 1207 Gilbert Drive, Lubbock, TX 79416, USA; Environmental Science and Studies Program, Towson University, 8000 York Rd., Towson, MD 21252, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Salice
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002104:Cadmium / Q000633:toxicity*; D003621:Daphnia / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects; D013696:Temperature; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002104:Cadmium
keywords: Aquatic ecotoxicology; Cadmium; Daphnia magna; Life history traits; Non-monotonic response; Population growth rate; Tolerance; Transgenerational effects