TY - JOUR
T1 - Roundup negatively impacts the behavior and nerve function of the Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa)
AU - Kanabar, Megha
AU - Bauer, Samuel
AU - Ezedum, Zimuzo M.
AU - Dwyer, Ian P.
AU - Moore, William S.
AU - Rodriguez, Gabriella
AU - Mall, Aditya
AU - Littleton, Anne T.
AU - Yudell, Michael
AU - Kanabar, Jenil
AU - Tucker, Wade J.
AU - Daniels, Emily R.
AU - Iqbal, Mohima
AU - Khan, Hira
AU - Mirza, Ashra
AU - Yu, Joshua C.
AU - O’Neal, Marvin
AU - Volkenborn, Nils
AU - Pochron, Sharon T.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Drs. Maurice Kernan and Jeffrey Levinton for their support and ideas regarding experimental design. We thank Dr. Katherine Aubrecht, Director of the Sustainability Studies Program at Stony Brook University, and Dr. Paul Shepson, Dean of SoMAS at Stony Brook University, for supporting our research. As always and with deep gratitude, we thank Mike Axelrod, Greenhouse Curator, and John Klumpp, Assistant Greenhouse Curator, for helping us raise and maintain cockroaches, which is not their favorite animal. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for comments that improved the quality of this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2021/7
Y1 - 2021/7
N2 - Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup formulations. Glyphosate-based herbicides are used globally in agriculture, forestry, horticulture, and in urban settings. Glyphosate can persist for years in our soil, potentially impacting the soil-dwelling arthropods that are primary drivers of a suite of ecosystem services. Furthermore, although glyphosate is not generally classified as neurotoxic to insects, evidence suggests that it may cause nerve damage in other organisms. In a series of experiments, we used food to deliver environmentally realistic amounts of Roundup ready-to-use III, a common 2% glyphosate-based herbicide formulation that lists isopropylamine salt as its active ingredient, to Madagascar hissing cockroaches. We then assessed the impact of contamination on body mass, nerve health, and behavior. Contaminated food contained both 30.6 mg glyphosate and so-called inert ingredients. Food was refreshed weekly for 26–60 days, depending on the experiment. We found that consumption of contaminated food did not impact adult and juvenile survivorship or body weight. However, consumption of contaminated food decreased ventral nerve cord action-potential velocity by 32%, caused a 29% increase in respiration rate, and caused a 74.4% decrease in time spent on a motorized exercise wheel. Such changes in behavior may make cockroaches less capable of fulfilling their ecological service, such as pollinating or decomposing litter. Furthermore, their lack of coordination may make them more susceptible to predation, putting their population at risk. Given the decline of terrestrial insect abundance, understanding common risks to terrestrial insect populations has never been more critical. Results from our experiments add to the growing body of literature suggesting that this popular herbicide can act as a neurotoxin.
AB - Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup formulations. Glyphosate-based herbicides are used globally in agriculture, forestry, horticulture, and in urban settings. Glyphosate can persist for years in our soil, potentially impacting the soil-dwelling arthropods that are primary drivers of a suite of ecosystem services. Furthermore, although glyphosate is not generally classified as neurotoxic to insects, evidence suggests that it may cause nerve damage in other organisms. In a series of experiments, we used food to deliver environmentally realistic amounts of Roundup ready-to-use III, a common 2% glyphosate-based herbicide formulation that lists isopropylamine salt as its active ingredient, to Madagascar hissing cockroaches. We then assessed the impact of contamination on body mass, nerve health, and behavior. Contaminated food contained both 30.6 mg glyphosate and so-called inert ingredients. Food was refreshed weekly for 26–60 days, depending on the experiment. We found that consumption of contaminated food did not impact adult and juvenile survivorship or body weight. However, consumption of contaminated food decreased ventral nerve cord action-potential velocity by 32%, caused a 29% increase in respiration rate, and caused a 74.4% decrease in time spent on a motorized exercise wheel. Such changes in behavior may make cockroaches less capable of fulfilling their ecological service, such as pollinating or decomposing litter. Furthermore, their lack of coordination may make them more susceptible to predation, putting their population at risk. Given the decline of terrestrial insect abundance, understanding common risks to terrestrial insect populations has never been more critical. Results from our experiments add to the growing body of literature suggesting that this popular herbicide can act as a neurotoxin.
KW - Action potential
KW - Glyphosate
KW - Locomotion
KW - Neurotoxin
KW - Respiration
KW - Soil-dwelling invertebrate
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85101740193&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11356-021-13021-6
DO - 10.1007/s11356-021-13021-6
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85101740193
SN - 0944-1344
VL - 28
SP - 32933
EP - 32944
JO - Environmental Science and Pollution Research
JF - Environmental Science and Pollution Research
IS - 25
ER -