EFFECTS OF TBT (TRIBUTYLTIN) ON AQUATIC MICROCOSMS

The toxicity of tributyltin was evaluated in aquatic microcosms. Untreated samples of water and organisms were taken from a perennial pond. The values used to calculate the effects were based on qualitative observations of community composition, on resistence and resilience of net productivity and nocturnal respiration. Microcosms did not clearly exhibit an inverse relationship between resistance and resilience as hypothesized by some authors: this suggests that any relationship between these two measures of stability is tenuous. Functional recovery was complete at 4.7 and 14.9/μgTBTO/l; however a partial recovery of composition appeared only at 4.7/μg/l. The interrelationship between taxonomic groups and species and the physical environment were modified apparently in a dose-dependent way. © 1991, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.