Data from elsewhere can include the following:

• Information from the literature

  The scientific literature contains a wealth of information useful for causal analysis. Laboratory studies can be used to generate stressor-response relationships. For chemicals, the literature on laboratory stressor-response relationships has already been compiled and extracted by the U.S. EPA into the EcoTox database. The development of an analogous database for field observational studies (CADlit) is underway. Field observational studies can be used to evaluate whether causes are consistently associated with effects or whether diagnostic symptoms have been identified. Information useful for evaluating causal mechanisms includes organism life history attributes, biomarkers, and pharmacokinetic experiments.

• Observations from similar cases

  Observations from similar cases can yield insights into the current investigation, particularly if other investigators have implemented management actions or identified diagnostic symptoms. Unfortunately, there is no central repository of documented field investigations, and these studies often are not published. You must rely on your network of colleagues for much of this information.

• Data sets from larger geographic areas

  Data sets from state and regional biological surveys are becoming increasingly available [insert links to EMAP, NWQA, and WSA here]. Although the observational period and the suite of stressor data can be limited, these data can be used to derive stressor-response relationships, to evaluate whether effects are consistently observed at the same locations as stressors, and to identify and analyze important confounding variables.