Rothmeier, Louisa MarieFeibicke, MichaelMartens, AndreasGergs, RenéWatermann, BurkardKullwatz, Jan ChristopherSahm, René2024-06-162024-06-162020https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-70https://openumwelt.de/handle/123456789/4169The heavy metal copper has been widely used in industrial processes as well as a pesticide product in agriculture or as biocide. Anthropogenic activities by which copper can enter the environment are rather diverse including mining, metal finishing factories, discharging in industry, or sewage treatment plants. In agriculture, copper compounds are used mainly as fungicides or herbicides (e.g. reviewed by Flemming and Trevors 1989). Furthermore, it was formerly used in reservoirs, streams and ponds for controlling algae blooms and is now commonly used as a biocide in antifouling paintings for ships to protect hulls from corrosion and for fuel efficiency (Piola et al. 2009; Watermann et al. 2017). When copper is released into freshwater systems, for example via agricultural runoff, it exists in surface waters in the form of free ions (Cu2+), complexed with ligands or bound to particles, occurring at median water concentrations often ranging between 4 to 10 Ìg Cu2+/L (ATSDR 2004). As a persistent element, copper is able to accumulate in biofilms (Morin et al. 2008) and sediments of rivers, lakes and estuaries, from where it can also be remobilised (Watermann et al. 2017). Absorption of copper ions into biofilms increases with increasing ion concentration (Bhaskar and Bhosle 2006), leading to highly contaminated biofilms in polluted environments. © 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG1 Onlineresource (pages 62-66)online resourceenghttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/BiofilmSchneckeFortpflanzungWissenschaftlicher Artikel