41st Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GfÖ)
from 5 to 9 September 2011 at Oldenburg University in Germany http://www.gfoe-2011.de.
For the session mentioned below, please submit your abstract for a poster or oral presentation by 15 May 2011.
Session: Linking Ecology and Ecotoxicology – examples, concepts and methodologies
The effect of toxicants on ecosystems depends on various ecological factors. At individual level, the sensitivity of species towards toxicants is influenced by environmental stressors like temperature, salinity, oxygen level, UV radiation, and the acquisition of food. On the population and community level, species viability is additionally affected by important biological interactions like competition and predation. All these factors that may influence the effects of toxicants are well-known concepts of population and community ecology.
However, in chemical risk assessment (for example for pesticides, nano-particles or PAHs), such factors are rarely taken into account: Traditional risk assessment methods are often based on single-species tests under optimal labo+C31ratory conditions and the extrapolation to consequences for the ecosystem is uncertain and problematic. Hence, there is a great need for more ecology in ecotoxicology.
In this session we want to explore the effects of toxicants on populations, communities, and ecosystems with focus on additional ecological factors. Furthermore, we would like to discuss concepts and theoretical frameworks for the incorporation of ecologically important factors into risk assessment methodologies. Consequently, we invite the presentation of laboratory experiments, field investigations, and modelling studies that deal with the combined effects of toxicants, environmental stressors, and biological interactions.
