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Modeling effects of pesticides on populations of soil/litter invertebrates in an orchard ecosystem
Author(s) -
Goodman Erik D.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620010107
Subject(s) - toxicant , invertebrate , population , ecology , biota , pesticide , environmental science , ecosystem , soil biology , litter , orchard , biology , toxicology , chemistry , toxicity , soil water , demography , organic chemistry , sociology
In order to efficiently determine safe levels for introduction of toxic chemicals into the environment, regulators need to understand: (1) the environmental chemistry of the chemical, (2) the time‐course of its distribution in the environment, (3) the exposure of key organisms to the chemical, and (4) the effects of the chemical on the exposed biota. It is not practical to determine all of these in field studies for each new chemical; thus, some generalizations must be made based on more limited laboratory determinations. To map from these determinations to a prediction of fate and effects in the field, regulators must implicitly or explicity employ some sort of model. This paper presents one component of a modeling effort directed toward this goal. This model attempts to represent the effects of azinphosmethyl, an example chemical, on an example population of soil/litter invertebrates, based on extensive studies in a field situation and in the laboratory. Exposure of soil/litter‐resident invertebrates is based on the time‐course of toxicant distribution and the activity patterns of the organisms as represented by other models developed in the author's laboratory. Examples of these predicted toxicant distributions and comparable field‐determined values are presented here. A model is proposed here to represent temporally distributed mortality of an invertebrate population caused by repeated toxicant dosing. Detailed toxicological studies on the isopod Trachelipus rathkei have allowed the best model parameterization, but models for spiders, earthworms, and springtails have also been developed. Model outputs based on laboratory data are compared with field observations of isopod populations. Results indicate some areas in which further model development is required.