Aquatic biofilms: to what extent do they allow us to understand the effect of pesticides on the functioning of watercourses? Example in a vineyard area

Abstract

Biofilms are attached microbial assemblages on immersed substrates and play a major ecological role in stream ecosystems. Biofilms interact with dissolved substances and contaminants (such as pesticides), which can directly or indirectly affect their structure and functions. A variety of taxonomic and functional microbial indicators exist for considering biofilm as biological indicators of pollution (bioindicators). They can provide complementary information to normalized biological indices, which are used to assess the ecological status of waters, as defined by the European Water Framework Directive. Synthesizing results obtained in a river draining a vineyard area, we propose here to assess to what extent biofilms can be used to characterize pesticide effects on lotic ecosystems.