Grantee Research Project Results

A Bioenergetics-Based Approach to Understanding and Predicting Individual- to Community-Level Ecological Effects of Manufactured Chemicals

EPA Grant Number: R835800
Title: A Bioenergetics-Based Approach to Understanding and Predicting Individual- to Community-Level Ecological Effects of Manufactured Chemicals
Investigators: J. Salice, Christopher
Institution: Towson University
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: September 1, 2015 through August 31, 2018 (Extended to February 28, 2020)
Project Amount: $374,510
RFA: Systems-Based Research for Evaluating Ecological Impacts of Manufactured Chemicals (2014) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Chemical Safety for Sustainability

Objective:

A fundamental goal in ecotoxicology and ecological risk assessment (ERA) is to predict the frequency and magnitude of adverse ecological effects resulting from chemical contaminants. The vast majority of studies are focused at levels of biological organization that are most conducive to empirical approaches - the individual and lower. Paradoxically, the levels of biological organization that are most relevant to environmental health and societal value are at the population level and higher (communities and ecosystems). Because energy is a universal ecological currency that reaches across levels of organization, a bioenergetics approach to understanding and predicting ecological effects of chemical stressors is a promising path forward. The overarching objective of the proposed research is to develop a bioenergetics-based Adverse Outcome Pathway framework that can translate from individual-level to population- and community-level effects of manufactured chemicals.

Approach:

This research will utilize Daphnia magna (freshwater crustacean) and Lymnaea stagnalis (freshwater gastropod) as model ecological receptors in a series of sequentially more complex study designs to develop and parameterize bioenergetics and population models for predicting adverse ecological effects in response to two model emerging contaminants (pyroclostrobin fungicide and perfluorooctane sulfonate). Lower-tier studies will mirror standardized, shorter term assays while higher-tier studies will include more complex ecological interactions (competitors, predators) culminating in a community-level assessment.

Expected Results:

The ultimate product will be a methodological approach and related mathematical models that combines data to establish the linkages between sub individual bioenergetics responses to emerging contaminants to effects on populations and communities. The goal is to identify bioenergetic markers like fatty acid profiles of biota or changes in metabolic rate that can be identified in simple systems but relate to potential effects in more ecologically complex and realistic systems. This research will directly benefit sustainability efforts aimed at reducing risk to natural resources.

Publications and Presentations:

Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 26 publications for this project

Journal Articles:

Journal Articles have been submitted on this project: View all 9 journal articles for this project

Progress and Final Reports:

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.