Problems associated with selecting the most sensitive species for toxicity testing

Cairns, John; Niederlehner, B. R.

doi:10.1007/bf00005507

Cited by 54 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The role of the bioassay Several syntheses are already available that discuss the role of controlled laboratory and field experimentation in environmental assessment (Cairns, 1985(Cairns, , 1986bRand & Petrocelli, 1985;Cairns & Niederlehner, 1987;La Point et al, 1989;La Point & Perry, 1989;Cairns & Mount, 1990;C&C & Wells, 1991) and, therefore, details of their use are not repeated here. In short, a vast number of alternative experimental designs are available for conducting controlled tests, and the relative utility of specific designs varies greatly with the circumstances under which environmental assessments are made and the types of stressors being studied.…”

Section: Biological Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A proposed framework for developing indicators of ecosystem health

1993

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Considerations involved in developing a suite of indicators to monitor regional environmental health, similar in conception to management use of 'leading economic indicators', are described. Linkages between human activities and well being and the state of the environment are considered essential to the evaluation of general environmental health. Biogeochemical and socioeconomic indicators are mutually affected by environmental degradation and examples of both categories of indicators are described. Desirable properties in indicators of environmental health vary with their specific management use. Different indicators are called for when collecting data to assess the adequacy of the environment, monitor trends over time, provide early warning of environmental degradation, or diagnose the cause of an existing problem. Tradeoffs between desirable characteristics, costs, and quality of information are inevitable when choosing indicators for management use. Decisions about what information to collect for which purpose can be made more rationally when available indicators are characterized and matched to management goals.

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Section: Biological Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A proposed framework for developing indicators of ecosystem health

1993

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“…Significant effects were often seen in less than 12 days indicating a rapid assessment potential. Recently, several authors have questioned the use of single species toxicity tests and the use of universal water quality standards (e.g., Cairns, 1984;Cairns & Niederlehner, 1987;Lee & Jones, 1986). We believe that macrophyte litter decomposition may be a valuable tool for instream assessment when appropriate reference sites can be chosen.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The combined effects of chlorine and ammonia on litter breakdown in outdoor experimental streams

Newman

Perry

1989

Hydrobiologia

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The response of Potamogeton crispus L. breakdown to controlled doses of different levels of chlorine and chlorine + ammonia was investigated over two years in outdoor experimental streams. In 1985, downstream riffles of 2 streams were dosed (observed in-stream concentrations) at ca. 10 jug/L Total Residual Chlorine (TRC), one stream at 64 #g/L TRC and one stream at 230 ftg/L TRC. Two control streams were not dosed and the upstream riffles of each stream served as within stream controls. In 1986, the downstream riffle of one stream was dosed at 70 jtg/L TRC and a second stream was dosed at 200 tg/L TRC. Four streams were also dosed with 2.5 mg/L NH 3 -N: one stream with no chlorine, one stream with ca. 10 jig/L TRC, one with 56 pg/L TRC, and one with 150 ug/L TRC. A seventh stream was dosed for 2 h at 2000 jug/L TRC and 2.5 mg/L ammonia and then allowed to recover (recovery stream). Each year, litter decomposition (degree day k values) was measured during two 35 day trials (Jun-Jul and Aug-Sep). In 1985, when streams were dosed with chlorine alone, decomposition was significantly reduced with the high (230 yg/L TRC) chlorine dose. Downstream decomposition was 27 % (Jun-Jul) and 59% (Aug-Sep) of the upstream (control) rate. No other chlorine effects were found during this period. In Jun-Jul 1986, there was significantly lower decomposition in the downstream dosed sites of the 200 #g/L TRC alone stream, the 146 #g/L TRC + ammonia stream and the recovery stream; downstream decay rates were (respectively) 56%, 42% and 64% of the upstream control sites. No other up-down pairs were different in July 1986. In Aug-Sep, all three streams with chlorine + ammonia (6, 56 and 146 ktg/L TRC + 2,5 mg/L ammonia) and the 70 ,g/L TRC alone stream had significantly lower decomposition rates in the downstream dosed sites. For these streams, downstream decay rates ranged from 46 % (high chlorine + ammonia) to 73 % (low chlorine + ammonia) of the upstream control rates. No other up-down pairs were different during this trial. Up and downstream sites of the stream dosed with 2.5 mg/L ammonia alone were nearly identical for both trials (< 3 % difference). These results indicate that TRC at less than 250 g/L can significantly reduce litter decomposition and strongly suggest that addition of ammonia to chlorinated water can increase the toxic effect of chlorine. 70

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“…Kenaga (1987) and Meyer & Ellersieck (1986) have provided persuasive evidence that there are frequently substantive difficulties in extrapolating from one species to another or, stated differently, within a single level of biological organization . Cairns (1983) and Cairns & Niederlehner (1987) have questioned the advisability of attempting to extrapolate from the single species level of biological organization to higher levels . The National Research Council (1981) The first book in the Pellston series (Cairns et al, 1978) also emphasized confirming or validating in natural systems through field studies of the predictive models developed in laboratory tests, whether they be single or multispecies tests .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological hazard/risk assessment: lessons learned and new directions

Cairns

Dickson

1995

Hydrobiologia

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A series of workshops held in the 1970s and 1980s, beginning at the University of Michigan Biological Station near Pellston, Michigan (and thus called the Pellston Series), focused on identifying the basic tenets of ecological hazard/risk assessment . The purpose of this discussion, produced roughly two decades after the first Pellston workshop, is to examine the impacts of this series on the development of the ecological hazard/risk assessment process, to explore some barriers hindering the development of this process, and suggest some new directions and challenges yet unaddressed by any of the workshop series . Probably the most important factor identified since the series of workshops began is persuasive circumstantial evidence that the learning process proceeds at different rates for individuals and institutions both in the government and private sectors, including academe . Evidence presently available suggests that individuals are frequently two or three decades ahead of institutions, and some individuals have already rejected paradigms generally accepted by the profession and are developing new ones . The major contribution of the workshops to the profession was connecting toxicity with environmental fate and transformation of chemicals and, thus, bioavailability . Astonishingly, before the first Pellston workshop, this nowobvious connection did not play a dominant role in the peer-reviewed professional literature or in government documents, although the indefatigable investigator could find some minor indications that some professionals were aware of the importance of these relationships . Major suggestions for new directions and challenges focus on :(1) an emphasis on ecosystem health or condition rather than on mere absence of deleterious effects ; (2) entering the information age requires that the type of information discussed here be integrated with and related to the broader array of other types of information used in making decisions at the societal or system level -failure to do so will mean that hazard/risk information will have little or no impact ; (3) restoration ecology must emerge as a field of considerable importance because inevitably some estimates of hazard/risk will be inaccurate and damage will be done to ecosystems, which must then be repaired ; (4) for all of this to function, environmental literacy must be markedly improved over its present level .

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Problems associated with selecting the most sensitive species for toxicity testing

Cited by 54 publications

References 24 publications

A proposed framework for developing indicators of ecosystem health

A proposed framework for developing indicators of ecosystem health

The combined effects of chlorine and ammonia on litter breakdown in outdoor experimental streams

Ecological hazard/risk assessment: lessons learned and new directions

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