Adding Value to Ecological Risk Assessment with Population Modeling

Authors

Valery E. Forbes, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Peter Calow, Roskilde UniversityFollow
Volker Grimm, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
Takehiko I, Hayashi, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Tjalling Jager, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Agnete Katholm, Roskilde University
Annemette Palmqvist, Roskilde University
Rob Pastorok, Integral Consulting Inc., Woodinville, WA
Dan Salvito, Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, Woodcliff Lake, NJ
Richard Sibly, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Julann Spromberg, NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA,
John Stark, Washington State University, Puyallup, WA
Richard A. Stillman, Bournemouth University, Dorset, UK

Date of this Version

2011

Comments

Published in Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 17: 287–299, 2011.
DOI: 10.1080/10807039.2011.552391

Abstract

Current measures used to estimate the risks of toxic chemicals are not relevant to the goals of the environmental protection process, and thus ecological risk assessment (ERA) is not used as extensively as it should be as a basis for cost-effective management of environmental resources. Appropriate population models can provide a powerful basis for expressing ecological risks that better inform the environmental management process and thus that are more likely to be used by managers. Here we provide at least five reasons why population modeling should play an important role in bridging the gap between what we measure and what we want to protect. We then describe six actions needed for its implementation into management-relevant ERA.