R3 PM Application of Spatially Explicit Techniques in Ecological Risk Assessment
Thursday, 17 November 2005: 1:50 PM - 5:30 PM in Ballroom 3

(KAP-1117-561805) Ecology and Ecological Risk Assessment: why spatial patterns and scales matter.

Kapustka, L¹, ¹ ecological planning and toxicology, inc., Corvallis, Oregon, USA

ABSTRACT- Ecological risk Assessment (EcoRA) began largely as a tool to address the environmental component of legal framework ′to protect human health and the environment.′ The practice generally considered potential toxicity effects to selected receptors in environmental settings. Rarely, however, were ecological processes and relationships assessed explicitly. For most small-scale situations, the emphasis on toxicity apart from ecology has worked well; for larger cases such approaches generally have performed unsatisfactorily. Development of spatially-explicit risk assessment approaches is making it possible to consider multiple species and multiple stressors (typical at most sites) concurrently. These new approaches promote explicit descriptions of ecological relationships including species-specific habitat characterization, metapopulation dynamics, and considerations of biological and physical stressors in addition to traditional chemical stressors. Hypothetical case studies will be used to illustrate the consequences of using landscape-level ecological relationships to obtain provide better approximations of real world dynamics and improved environmental management information.

Key words: landscape ecology, multiple stressors, spatially explicit assessments