Matilde Moreira-Santos

TL;DR: The first part of this review thoroughly reviews the scientific literature and of data obtained from various laboratories for assays performed with either D. magna test organisms obtained from lab cultures or hatched from dormant eggs, and finds that the microbiotest technology has several advantages in comparison to the “traditional” tests based on laboratory cultures, especially its independence of the stock culturing burden.

TL;DR: Review of studies that have attempted to integrate ecotoxicological tools in the assessment of surface water bodies finds that studies at community level appear suitable for assessing the ecological quality of water bodies, whereas the bioassays/biomarkers are especially useful as early warning systems and to investigate the causes of ecological impairment, allowing a better understanding of the cause–effect-relationships.

TL;DR: A framework to define and assess ecological relevance that permits study designs to remain focused on the ecological question being addressed is provided, which makes explicit the linkages between effects at lower levels of biological organization and higher-order ecological effects at the population, community, and ecosystem levels.

TL;DR: Alginate beads stable in seawater and suited for Phaeodactylum tricornutum growth were found to be the most stable and the most suitable for microalgal growth, and were exposed in the field, under natural fluctuating conditions of light and temperature.

TL;DR: The avoidance response was easy and rapid to quantify, leading this test to routine use in environmental risk assessment, and the apparatus enabled quantification of median avoidance effect concentrations or dilutions and also lowest-observed-effect gradients, which express the minimum toxicant gradient eliciting avoidance.