WP 7: Community-relevant effects

Given that the ultimate goal of ecotoxicology is the identification of effects at the population and ecosystem levels, microbial communities were picked for reasons of their supreme importance in the environment. Two microbial communities (intestinal microbiomes and environmental microbial biofilms) will be investigated with respect to effects by the test substances (cf. WPs 1 and 2). The intestinal biofilm population shifts may be responsible for the health status of the aquatic organisms, whereas environmental biofilms may have an impact on degradation and biotransformation capaci-ties. In consequence, microbial population shifts lead to an imbalance in aquatic ecosystems (WPs 7.1 and 7.3). Impacts on fish communities will be studied with regard to population-relevant changes in the social and foraging behavior of juvenile zebrafish and brown trout as a consequence of expo-sure to neuroactive substances (WPs 7.3 and 7.4).