Fig. 1
From: Close to reality? Micro-/mesocosm communities do not represent natural macroinvertebrate communities
Evolution of microcosm and mesocosm studies, conducted from 1986 to 2018 to test pesticidal substances, regarding the total number of all families per study (a) and the number of familiesMDD%low of the taxonomic group insects and crustaceans (i/c) per study (b), and the mean MDD% of all taxa per study (c). MDD% is the minimum detectable difference in % and familiesMDD%low are defined as families per study with a mean MDD% < 70. The calculated mean MDD% and the classification as familiesMDD%low is based on “aquatic data” only (emergence data were excluded). Please note that the AGD [17] was published in 2013 requiring a minimum of 8 different populations of the taxonomic group insects and crustaceans