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DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF INDIVIDUAL, POPULATION, AND SPATIAL LEVELS: INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF MULTIPLE STRESSORS ON PISCIVOROUS BIRDS
Citation:
Haebler, R. DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF INDIVIDUAL, POPULATION, AND SPATIAL LEVELS: INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF MULTIPLE STRESSORS ON PISCIVOROUS BIRDS. Presented at Wildlife Toxicology Program Science Meeting, Ottowa, Canada, October 25, 2001.
Description:
The goal of the US Environmental Protection Agency's National Health and Environmental Research Laboratory's Wildlife Risk Assessment program is to develop scientifically valid methods to assess risks to wildlife and aquatic organisms from multiple stressors. To this end, the Loon Demonstration Project was designed to develop tools needed to characterize risks to the common loon (Gavia immer) associated with mercury exposure and habitat alterations in the northeast United States and Canada. This scientific approach utilizes a large diverse scientific team with expertise in many disciplines. The key components of this study are a blending of ecotoxicology, population biology and landscape ecology. The conceptual model includes four basic components; landscape characterization, individual level effects, population modeling, and spatially-explicit models. For landscape characterization, relational databases have been developed using existing data. Geographically referenced mercury residue distribution in fish and waterbodies across the landscape provides information on species-specific habitat quality. Individual level effects are characterized using existing dose- response data. Also, biologically-based dose-response models for mercury are being developed using a controlled mercury feeding study in American kestrels (Fa/co Sparverius) as a surrogate species This will provide the methods needed to extrapolate among species. Population models are being developed to identify the relationships between individual and population responses. Spatially-explicit modeling uses methods and models to predict population dynamics in heterogeneous habitats. The intended outcome will be methods that will allow assessment of risks to loons by mercury and habitat alterations, and more importantly, a suite of tools and methods that can be applied in assessing risks to a variety of species from other stressors.