Abstract |
Laboratory research programs address several broad areas, including the ecological effects of airborne pollutants, such as ozone, acid rain, and air toxics; the effects of toxic chemicals on plants, animals, and ecosystems; the assessment and restoration of contaminated or degraded environments; the characterization and assessment of the vulnerability of ecological systems, such as wetlands, to human impacts; the use of aquatic ecoregions to develop biological criteria for assessing aquatic ecosystems; the ecological risks from the terrestrial release of bioengineered organisms and other biological control agents; and the ecological effects of global climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, and loss of biological diversity. |