Special Symposium on Ecological Modelling in Support of Terrestrial Risk Assessments
Pernille Thorbek, Syngenta, UK, Volker Grimm, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Germany and Wayne Munns, USEPA
The SETAC Europe Advisory Group MeMoRisk is organising a special symposium on ecological modelling in support of terrestrial risk assessments at the 6th SETAC World Congress in Berlin (16:00—18:30, 22 May, SS07). In terrestrial risk assessments, a wide range of species with very different ecologies and life histories have to be considered. Furthermore, in terrestrial ecosystems exposure to chemicals often varies more among individuals than is the case in aquatic ecosystems. Chemical concentrations are often spatially heterogeneous, and some organisms move over large areas, exposing them to varying levels of chemical stressors. Moreover, the main route of exposure often is dietary and therefore highly dependent on actual diet. Hence, many factors have to be integrated into terrestrial risk assessments, which can be difficult to achieve with traditional methods, but can be done with mechanistic effects models. In this special session, six speakers will demonstrate how population models can improve risk assessments for honeybees, endangered species, wildlife and soil organisms and how toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic models can improve risk assessments for vertebrates. These presentations will be followed by a panel discussion titled "Using models: does improved understanding merit the increased complexity of risk assessments?"
Author's contact information: pernille.thorbek@syngenta.com, volker.grimm@ufz.de and munns.wayne@epamail.epa.gov
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