Project description
Sublethal effects of pesticide exposure on the riparian predators
The decline of arthropod populations, driven by pesticides, threatens ecosystem services. These organisms are vital for pollination and decomposition. Intensive agriculture contaminates over 74 % of agricultural land. Current assessments often overlook sub-lethal effects that can impact population viability. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the PIPER project investigates the sub-lethal effects of pesticide exposure on the fitness of riparian Tetragnatha spiders, which are essential predators in riparian ecosystems. These spiders consume aquatic insects, potentially transferring pesticides to terrestrial environments. The study aims to understand how sub-lethal pesticide exposure affects various traits, combining laboratory and field experiments along the pesticide-contaminated Mura River in Slovenia.
Objective
The global decline of arthropod populations threatens biodiversity, ecosystem services, and food webs, with pesticides as a major driver. Arthropods are crucial for pollination, decomposition, and as prey for vertebrates. This decline, linked to intensive agriculture, affects over 74% of the world’s agricultural land with pesticide contamination. Despite EU regulations, pesticide pollution impacts aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Current risk assessments focus on survival, overlooking sub-lethal effects that can disrupt physiology and behavior affecting fitness and population viability. This project investigates the sub-lethal effects of pesticide exposure on the fitness of riparian Tetragnatha spiders, which are key predators in riparian ecosystems. These spiders feed on aquatic insects and thereby transfer pesticides to terrestrial environments. Despite their ecological importance, the impact of pesticides on their reproduction remains poorly understood. I will evaluate how sub-lethal pesticide exposure affects fitness-related traits, including sperm quality, oocyte development, and reproductive behavior, addressing gaps in ecotoxicological assessments. I hypothesize that pesticide exposure will reduce sperm quantity and quality, cause DNA fragmentation, impair oocyte development, and disrupt mating behavior, leading to reduced fitness and population viability. The project combines laboratory and field experiments along the Mura River in Slovenia, an area with documented pesticide contamination. Field data will inform laboratory experiments where spiders are exposed to various pesticide concentrations through contaminated prey. We will assess reproductive parameters and behavioral changes to understand the broader implications of pesticide exposure. This interdisciplinary research will advance evolutionary ecotoxicology, enhance understanding of pesticide impacts on reproduction, and inform conservation strategies, aligning with EU environmental objectives.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.