Online first articles
Fungicide exposure reshapes gut-associated fungal communities without altering short-term feeding activity in a Neotropical shredder
Microbial–invertebrate interactions are central to organic matter turnover in detritus-based stream ecosystems, yet their sensitivity to agrochemical contamination remains poorly understood. We experimentally investigated how dietary fungicide exposure influences gut-associated fungal communities and feeding performance of Phylloicus sp., a key Neotropical shredder. Twenty larvae were maintained under laboratory conditions and fed leaf discs of Inga vera either untreated or conditioned with the fungicide Mancozeb (40 µg/L). Fungal morphotypes were isolated through culture-based methods and analyzed using multivariate and mixed-model approaches. Fungicide exposure significantly altered fungal community composition in the larval gut, indicating selective filtering of tolerant taxa, although fungal richness remained unchanged. Despite compositional restructuring, leaf litter consumption did not differ between treatments. These findings reveal a structural shift in gut-associated fungal assemblages without immediate functional consequences for feeding, suggesting short-term ecological buffering within shredder–microbe interactions. Our results highlight that fungicide contamination can modify microbial assembly pathways in tropical headwaters, even when detritivore performance appears stable, with potential implications for long-term ecosystem functioning under increasing agricultural intensification.
