Unraveling contaminant effects on biodiversity across scales: the macroecotoxicology perspective

Gabriel M. Moulatlet , Mariana Vellosa Capparelli, Daniela Truchet, Andreu Rico, Fabricio Villalobos

With the spread of contaminants across the globe, ecosystems are increasingly exposed to pollutants at varying levels of biological organization. The effects of a wide range of contaminants on individuals have been extensively studied within the discipline of ecotoxicology, but understanding the generality of species’ responses across taxa and ecosystems remains a major challenge. This is because such responses are shaped by eco-physiological, geographic, and evolutionary factors, dimensions that ecotoxicology has not been able to fully capture on its own. While these dimensions are frequently explored in macroecological studies, such research rarely considers environmental contamination as a variable capable of influencing species occurrence and distribution patterns. Here, we explore the potential of macroecotoxicology as a sub-discipline capable of integrating the core principles of both ecotoxicology and macroecology. By benefiting from recent advances in these disciplines, macroecotoxicological research would allow us to scale responses from individual organisms' sensitivity up to broader patterns of species distribution and ecosystem response, contributing to the development of predictive frameworks for biodiversity change in a rapidly transforming world.