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

(PUR-1117-839862) Use of habitat-contamination spatial correlation to determine when to perform a spatially explicit ecological risk assessment.

Purucker, S¹, Stewart, R¹, Welsh, C¹, ¹ University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

ABSTRACT- Anthropogenic contamination is typically distributed heterogeneously through space. This spatial structure can have differing effects on the cumulative doses of individuals within the environment. These effects are exacerbated when individuals pursue different movement strategies, and movement strategies can be affected by how individuals and species value habitat. Habitat quality is often neglected when ecological risk assessments are performed, though inclusion of a quantitative habitat measure can have a significant effect on the overall exposure estimate. This presentation quantifies the range of the effect, by coupling an exposure model with an HSI model, to examine the interactions between habitat preferences, spatial distribution of contaminants, and foraging behavior. We construct dose distributions to characterize the range of exposure to Pronghorn deer exposed to flouride when foraging on desert sagebrush. The results show the magnitude of the difference between doses when foraging concentrations are positively or negatively correlated to varying degrees with habitat preferences. In addition, it examines the strength of correlation between the HSI data and the contaminant data as a proxy to determine whether HSI data should be incorporated into a spatially-explicit ecological risk assessment.

Key words: ecological risk assessment, habitat, spatial analysis