Seasonal responses of periphytic protozoan fauna to the antibiotic nitrofurazone at sensitive concentration in marine environments

Abstract In order to evaluate the seasonal responses of periphytic protozoan fauna to the antibiotic nitrofurazone at sensitive concentration, a 1-year baseline survey was carried out in Chinese coastal waters of the Yellow Sea. To assess the nitrofurazone (NFZ)-induced toxicokinetics in different season, the test protozoan samples were collected using microscope slides and exposed to the sensitive NFZ concentration of 8 mg ml −1 . Differences in species composition and typical species were observed in the test organism fauna in the control and treatment among four seasons. However, the community patterns were significantly shifted under the sensitive concentration, with a part of stressed test samples significantly departed from a respected taxonomic pattern. Therefore, it is suggested that periphytic protozoan fauna may be significantly changed at the same sensitive concentration in both the species composition and community pattern, although there were significant differences in tolerant species among four seasons in marine environments.