The Role of Terrestrial Microcosms and Mesocosms in Ecotoxicologic Research

Gillett, James W.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-3520-0_14

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…Seastedt et al, 1983;Kelly et al, 1984;Donnelly et al, 1990;Greville and Morgan, 1991;Mieth et al, 1993) since the degree of control over environmental conditions is lower than for laboratory-based systems. Also, in moving to the field, system size often comes more into line with that normally associated with lysimeters, extensively used for fate studies (Ftihr and Hance, 1992) or mesocosms (Gillett, 1989). In addition, systems having a separate aquatic phase have also been excluded since ecosystem structure and function will be completely different.…”

Section: Scope Of the Reviewmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…when micro-organisms are involved. These species will reproduce many times during the course of most TME studies which normally last between 60 and 120 days (Gillett, 1989).…”

Section: The Design and Analysis Of Terrestrial Model Ecosystem Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, effects upon a plant's full life-cycle cannot be studied if a pollinator is not included, e.g. honey bee, but studies of the rhizospheric interactions of chemicals, soil, soil micro-biota and plants are still possible (Gillett, 1989).…”

Section: The Design and Analysis Of Terrestrial Model Ecosystem Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The heterogeneity of the soil, its structure, the plant-soil relationship and relationships of soil invertebrates in the plant rhizosphere in many TMEs are thought to be on an explicit 1:1 scale with the real world (Gillett, 1989). Many of the important processes in the soil are contained within these relationships, e.g.…”

Section: The Design and Analysis Of Terrestrial Model Ecosystem Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Purely terrestrial systems followed later (Lichtenstein et al, 1974;Beall et al, 1976;Cole et al, 1976;Draggan, 1976;Gillett and Gile, 1976;Ausmus et al, 1979). However, limits on the extrapolability of the data from many of these systems resulted in rejection of the generic system idea but did enhance the design and value of ad hoc or site-specific systems (Gillett, 1989). Thus, a number of studies have been published using a wide diversity of TMEs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of laboratory terrestrial model ecosystems in the testing of potentially harmful substances

Morgan

Knacker

1994

Ecotoxicology

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: A classification of terrestrial model ecosystems (TMEs) was introduced which is based upon the physical properties of intactness of the physical medium and openness to the atmosphere. This gave rise to four types of system, namely open and closed intact systems and open and closed homogeneous' systems. These systems have different capabilities with respect to fate and effect end-points with various substances. The large closed TMEs are generally very complex, require a high degree of operator skill, expensive and therefore not replicable. Whilst these can provide estimates of losses due to volatility, they are not useful for determining effect end-points because of low replicability; high replicability being necessary because of natural variation in organism response. Open systems, especially those having intact soil-cores, are usually smaller, less complex and therefore more replicable. These have provided useful information on integrative functional effect end-points, but can only produce mass balances with non-volatile substances. Homogenization of the medium has also helped elucidate ecotoxicological effects by increasing replicability, but may introduce artifacts because of the disruption to soil organisms.A major limitation of TME studies would seem to be that few effect end-points can be non-destructively sampled. Further investigations into these may provide information on recovery of terrestrial ecosystems over time after substance application, perhaps using multivariate statistical techniques. Other problems concerning TMEs are related to complexity and scale. In this respect ecosystem functions in which microorganisms play a major role, such as nutrient cycling, provide the greatest similarity when compared to field evaluations of the same substances, especially where the TME is intact. However, effects upon structural aspects of biological communities have in general not been well researched in TMEs. Once these have been added to the more complete set of functional end-points, TMEs will provide a very useful tool in hazard assessments of potentially harmful substances.

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Section: Scope Of the Reviewmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…when micro-organisms are involved. These species will reproduce many times during the course of most TME studies which normally last between 60 and 120 days (Gillett, 1989).…”

Section: The Design and Analysis Of Terrestrial Model Ecosystem Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Design and Analysis Of Terrestrial Model Ecosystem Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Design and Analysis Of Terrestrial Model Ecosystem Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The role of laboratory terrestrial model ecosystems in the testing of potentially harmful substances

Morgan

Knacker

1994

Ecotoxicology

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Effects of field exposure to diazinon on small mammals inhabiting a semienclosed prairie grassland ecosystem. I. Ecological and reproductive effects

Sheffield

Lochmiller

2001

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Abstract-The widespread use of cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides in the environment presents increasing concerns about their effects on human, wildlife, and ecosystem health. As a group, these pesticides are generally highly toxic and have great potential for negatively affecting nontarget organisms. Small mammals have proven to be ideal biomonitors of environmental contaminants, and were used here to test for possible effects of a widely used cholinesterase-inhibiting insecticide, diazinon, in a natural field setting. Using 12 0.1-ha terrestrial mesocosms, we examined the effects of low-level diazinon exposure on the small mammal communities inhabiting semienclosed grassland ecosystems. Our primary objective was to test the hypothesis that diazinon, applied at two different recommended label application rates, would not cause any observable adverse ecological or reproductive effects on small mammal populations and communities. Experimental small mammal communities consisting of Sigmodon hispidus, Microtus ochrogaster, Reithrodontomys fulvescens, and Mus musculus were stocked at natural densities and sex ratios inside empty mesocosms. Diazinon 4E was applied at two different maximum recommended label application rates, 0.56 kg a.i./ha (1ϫ) and 4.5 kg a.i./ha (8ϫ), and controls remained unsprayed, with four enclosures (replicates) per treatment. Two 30-d trials were run during peak rodent breeding seasons and enclosures were sampled on days 2, 16, and 30 of each trial. Recovery of small mammals was not significantly different among treatments, although fewer animals were recovered from the diazinon-exposed enclosures in both trials. Analysis of trapping data suggested that the normally strong competitive relationship between Sigmodon and Microtus may be altered by the pesticide, favoring Microtus in the diazinon-exposed enclosures. Incidence of reproductive condition was found to be reduced 20 to 80% and 33 to 100% in diazinon-exposed males and females, respectively. Reproductive productivity, including percentage of pregnant females and of females giving birth, was significantly reduced in diazinon-exposed animals. Percentage of pregnant females ranged from 13.6 to 43.5% in diazinon-exposed animals compared to 40 to 80% for control animals, and percentage of females giving birth ranged from 0 to 17% in diazinon-exposed animals compared to 22 to 50% for control animals. Generally, the effects found in this study suggest that diazinon was relatively persistent in the sprayed enclosures and that oral routes of exposure (consumption of dead and dying arthropods, grooming) may have been important. Ecological relationships and reproduction in both herbivorous and omnivorous mammals were negatively impacted by diazinon exposure. Overall, ecological relationships in the enclosed prairie grassland ecosystem were disrupted by diazinon, probably through a combination of sublethal effects, particularly reproductive effects, impacting individuals and their populations. This suggests that negative impacts on populations and...

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Response of grassland ecosystem to air pollutants: I—Experimental concept and site of the braunschweig grassland investigation program

Grünhage¹,

Dämmgen

Hertstein³

et al. 1993

Environmental Pollution

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The Role of Terrestrial Microcosms and Mesocosms in Ecotoxicologic Research

Cited by 11 publications

References 83 publications

The role of laboratory terrestrial model ecosystems in the testing of potentially harmful substances

The role of laboratory terrestrial model ecosystems in the testing of potentially harmful substances

Effects of field exposure to diazinon on small mammals inhabiting a semienclosed prairie grassland ecosystem. I. Ecological and reproductive effects

Response of grassland ecosystem to air pollutants: I—Experimental concept and site of the braunschweig grassland investigation program

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