Assessing Ecological Risks at Large Spatial Scales. W. R. Munns, Jr., B. S. Brown, and J. F. Paul, US EPA, NHEERL, Narragansett, RI
The history of environmental management and regulation in the United States has been one of initial focus on localized, end-of-the-pipe problems to increasing attention to multi-scalar, multi-stressor, and multi- resource issues. Concomitant with this reorientation is the need for risk assessment concepts, methods, and procedures that will accommodate the increased complexity of ecological systems and the diversity of system components that result from increased spatial scale. Although EPA recently published guidelines for ecological risk assessment, the efficacy of the framework and approaches described therein to assess risks at such scales has yet to be evaluated fully. Old questions that take on enhanced relevance in the context of large scale assessments include: 1) what procedures can be employed to solicit and encourage stakeholder involvement in the assessment process; 2) how conceptual models can be constructed that reflect the multi-scalar, hierarchical nature of ecological systems; 3) what kinds of assessment endpoints and questions are relevant to large spatial scales; and 4) what tools and methods are needed to estimate risks at these scales. Also relevant are the emergence and importance of "new" stressors uniquely associated with large scale assessments, such as landscape pattern and land use. This presentation will explore these ideas through evaluation of conceptual approaches and distillation of lessons learned in case studies.
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