Interactive Effects of Warming and Pollutants on Marine and Freshwater Invertebrates

Purpose of Review

Global warming and pollution are among the five major causes of global biodiversity loss, particularly in aquatic invertebrates which are highly diverse but understudied. In this review, we highlight advancements in current environmental studies investigating the interactive effects between warming and contaminants in freshwater and marine invertebrates. We not only focused on temperate regions but also synthesized information on the less studied Arctic/Antarctic and tropical regions.

Recent Findings

In general, the same combination of warming and contaminants may result in either additive or non-additive interactive effects depending on taxa, the response variable, life stage, genotype, exposure level, duration and order of exposure, and the number of exposed generations. For traditional contaminants such as metals and pesticides, combined effects with warming at the individual level were generally synergistic. Growing evidence suggests that multigenerational exposure can shift the interaction between warming and contaminants toward antagonism, while contemporary evolution may change the interaction type.

Summary

Our synthesis highlights the importance of temporal aspects in shaping interaction type, including order of exposure, ontogenetic effects, transgenerational effects, and evolution. The combination of laboratory experiments (to advance mechanistic understanding) and outdoor mesocosm studies or field observations (to increase realism) is needed to obtain comprehensive assessments of interactive effects of warming and pollutants from genes to ecosystems.