Freshwater dissolved oxygen dynamics: changes due to glyphosate, 2,4-D, and their mixture, both under clear and turbid-organic conditions

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of glyphosate, 2,4-D, and their combination on daily dissolved oxygen saturation percentage (DO%) in freshwater, two separate outdoor mesocosm experiments were performed. The experiments were conducted under contrasting conditions: one in clear mesotrophic status lasting 23 days, and the other in organic turbid eutrophic conditions lasting 21 days. Single concentrations were applied as commercial formulations at two levels. Samples of phytoplankton (micro + nano, picoeukaryotes, picocyanobacteria), mixotrophic algae, and heterotrophic bacteria were analyzed at four sampling dates. Increases in DO levels were consistently observed in both clear and turbid systems treated with glyphosate, either alone or in combination with 2,4-D, suggesting that DO is a sensitive indicator. DO increased in all glyphosate treatments. DO increases reflected different changes in phytoplankton communities, increasing with micro + nano phytoplankton abundance in the clear experiment but with increased picocyanobacteria in the turbid. In contrast, 2,4-D reduced DO levels, but only in the turbid system, where micro + nano phytoplankton abundance decreased. The clear system showed greater resilience by restoring DO levels before the turbid one. Mainly additive effects of the herbicide mixture were observed on dissolved oxygen levels (DO%), but a distinct synergistic decrease was detected within turbid systems, underscoring the importance of considering turbidity as a contributing factor in the freshwater impacts of herbicides.