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Using integrated food‐web and population‐based models for environmental monitoring, remediation decisions, and long‐term planning
Author(s) -
Burger Joanna,
Hunter John,
Cooper Keith
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
remediation journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.762
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1520-6831
pISSN - 1051-5658
DOI - 10.1002/rem.1028
Subject(s) - food web , population , trophic level , stewardship (theology) , environmental resource management , risk analysis (engineering) , ecology , computer science , environmental science , business , biology , environmental health , medicine , politics , political science , law
While ecologists have used food‐web models to understand how ecosystems function, the potential roleof integrated food‐web and population‐based models in environmental monitoring and decision makinghas been ignored. Sound ecological principles should be integrated with state‐of‐the‐artmonitoring and management practices. This article presents the ways in which population‐based models cananswer basic ecological questions necessary for decision making about remediation and restoration, and formonitoring to ensure long‐term stewardship. Discussed are the uses of food‐web andpopulation‐based models for understanding the movement of chemicals through different trophic levels.Three examples, including global warming, tributyltin, and monomethylmercury scenarios, are presented toillustrate how such models are useful. The responses of the component parts varies, depending on parameters suchas birth, death, and respiration, as well as feeding rates, predator‐prey rates, and uptake andelimination rates. There are several different models available for decision making, with different levels ofcomplexity, based on the specific hypothesis or question being asked and the amount of current informationavailable. Therefore, it is recommended to use deterministic‐based, population‐basedfood‐web models for ecological risk assessment. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.