Richard J. Wenning – Wenning Environmental LLC, Yarmouth, Maine, US
Chapter 22, Fundamentals of Ecological Risk Assessment. In: Human and Ecological Risk Assessment -Theory and Practice Third Edition, Volume 2; D.J. Paustenbach (ed.). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119742975.ch22
ABSTRACT:
Ecological risk assessment (ERA) uses scientific data from field and laboratory studies to describe theoretical exposure and risks to wildlife and the natural environment resulting from human activities. ERA supports the cleanup of hazardous waste sites, regulation of consumer products, industrial chemicals, and pesticides, watershed management, and the mitigation of incidental harm to ecosystems caused by various land and natural resource development activities. ERA has become a crucial tool for quantifying the impacts on nature associated with exposure to a wide array of chemicals and environmental changes. It has transformed from a narrative evaluation of environmental impact to include several quantitative and semi-quantitative approaches, depending on the quality of available data, assessment endpoints, species of concern, and the purposes of the assessment.
In this chapter from Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, Theory and Practice, Volume 2 (3rd edition, 2024, Dennis J. Paustenbach, editor; Wiley), the work typically associated with conducting an ERA is reviewed, including the scoping and planning phases, screening-level ecological risk assessment (SLRA), and detailed-level risk assessment (DLRA). Several key considerations related to problem formulation, exposure characterization, effects characterization, and risk characterization are discussed. A brief review of data analysis tools integral to conducting a DLRA discusses the insights that can be gained when characterizing the potential ecological risks associated with exposures to chemical and physical stressors for a species and its ecological community. The chapter concludes with an examination of the challenges posed by climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as new assessment and monitoring methods and ecological models likely to inspire the evolution of ERA as a practical tool for understanding the consequences of environmental contamination on ecosystems.
