Life stage-specific effects of the fungicide pyrimethanil and temperature on the snail Physella acuta (Draparnaud, 1805) disclose the pitfalls for the aquatic risk assessment under global climate change.

It can be suggested that the combined stress of pesticide pollution and suboptimal temperature influences the sensitivity of life stages of aquatic invertebrates differently. The embryo, juvenile, half- and full-life-cycle toxicity tests performed with the snail Physella acuta at different concentrations (0.06-0.5 or 1.0 mg L(-1)) of the model fungicide pyrimethanil at 15, 20 and 25 °C revealed, that pyrimethanil caused concentration-dependent effects at all test temperatures. Interestingly, the ecotoxicity of pyrimethanil was higher at lower (suboptimal) temperature for embryo hatching and F(1) reproduction, but its ecotoxicity for juvenile growth and F(0) reproduction increased with increasing temperature. The life-stage specific temperature-dependent ecotoxicity of pyrimethanil and the high fungicide susceptibility of the invasive snail clearly demonstrate the complexity of pesticide-temperature interactions and the challenge to draw conclusions for the risk of pesticides under the impact of global climate change.