Integrated environmental assessment and management, Jan 31, 2016
Explicit consideration of the benefits that humans receive from ecosystems, commonly called ecosy... more Explicit consideration of the benefits that humans receive from ecosystems, commonly called ecosystem services, has the potential to improve environmental management decision making. The importance of ecosystem services to human well-being was highlighted by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005) and in 2009 Daily et al. proposed a conceptual framework and sketched out a strategic plan for delivering on the promise of ecosystem services: that is increasing the recognition of environmental benefits in decision making. This paper, along with others published around the same time (Fisher et al. 2009; De Groot et al. 2010), raised a number of challenges that had to be addressed to mainstream the ecosystem services approach into environmental decision making. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2015
Intent. The intent of Learned Discourses is to provide a forum for open discussion. These article... more Intent. The intent of Learned Discourses is to provide a forum for open discussion. These articles reflect the professional opinions of the authors regarding scientific issues. They do not represent SETAC positions or policies. And, although they are subject to editorial review for clarity, consistency, and brevity, these articles are not peer reviewed. The Learned Discourses date from 1996 in the North America SETAC News and, when that publication was replaced by the SETAC Globe, continued there through 2005. The continued success of Learned Discourses depends on our contributors. We encourage timely submissions that will inform and stimulate discussion. We expect that many of the articles will address controversial topics, and promise to give dissenting opinions a chance to be heard. Rules. All submissions must be succinct: no longer than 1000 words, no more than 6 references, and at most one table or figure. Reference format must follow the journal requirement found on the Internet at http:\\www. setacjournals.org. Topics must fall within IEAM's sphere of interest. Submissions. All manuscripts should be sent via email as Word attachments to Peter M Chapman
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2009
This is 1 of 4 papers reporting on the results of an SETAC technical workshop titled ''The Nexus ... more This is 1 of 4 papers reporting on the results of an SETAC technical workshop titled ''The Nexus Between Ecological Risk Assessment and Natural Resource Damage Assessment Under CERCLA: Understanding and Improving the Common Scientific Underpinnings,'' held 18-22 August 2008 in Montana, USA, to examine approaches to ecological risk assessment and natural resource damage assessment in US contaminated site cleanup legislation known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
Features of presettlement vegetation of the Nemadji River watershed were determined from surveyin... more Features of presettlement vegetation of the Nemadji River watershed were determined from surveying records covering three counties in two states. Data from 3,346 .. trees indicated major distributional differences in portions of the watershed. White pine (Pinus strobus bl was the predominant species of the Glacial Lake Duluth Basin, while Tamarack (Larix laricin~ (Du Roi, K. Koch) characterized the surrounding area of glacial till'. In addition, forests occupying ravines were , in general, composed of larger individuals and exhibted less evidence of reproduction than trees in adjacent uplands, which might suggest less erosional disturbance than is evident today.
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2016
Intent. The intent of Learned Discourses is to provide a forum for open discussion. These article... more Intent. The intent of Learned Discourses is to provide a forum for open discussion. These articles reflect the professional opinions of the authors regarding scientific issues. They do not represent SETAC positions or policies. And, although they are subject to editorial review for clarity, consistency, and brevity, these articles are not peer reviewed. The Learned Discourses date from 1996 in the North America SETAC News and, when that publication was replaced by the SETAC Globe, continued there through 2005. The continued success of Learned Discourses depends on our contributors. We encourage timely submissions that will inform and stimulate discussion. We expect that many of the articles will address controversial topics, and promise to give dissenting opinions a chance to be heard. Rules. All submissions must be succinct: no longer than 1000 words, no more than 6 references, and at most one table or figure. Reference format must follow the journal requirement found on the Internet at http://www. setacjournals.org. Topics must fall within IEAM’s sphere of interest. Submissions. All manuscripts should be sent via email as Word attachments to Peter M Chapman ([email protected]). e: im ly Sien tfic O Learned Discourses Editor Peter M Chapman Chapema Environmental Strategies Ltd. 1324 West 22nd Avenue North Vancouver, BC V7P2G4 [email protected]
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2016
Ecological production functions (EPFs) link ecosystems, stressors, and management actions to ecos... more Ecological production functions (EPFs) link ecosystems, stressors, and management actions to ecosystem services (ES) production. Although EPFs are acknowledged as being essential to improve environmental management, their use in ecological risk assessment has received relatively little attention. Ecological production functions may be defined as usable expressions (i.e., models) of the processes by which ecosystems produce ES, often including external influences on those processes. We identify key attributes of EPFs and discuss both actual and idealized examples of their use to inform decision making. Whenever possible, EPFs should estimate final, rather than intermediate, ES. Although various types of EPFs have been developed, we suggest that EPFs are more useful for decision making if they quantify ES outcomes, respond to ecosystem condition, respond to stressor levels or management scenarios, reflect ecological complexity, rely on data with broad coverage, have performed well previously, are practical to use, and are open and transparent. In an example using pesticides, we illustrate how EPFs with these attributes could enable the inclusion of ES in ecological risk assessment. The biggest challenges to ES inclusion are limited data sets that are easily adapted for use in modeling EPFs and generally poor Disclaimer The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute USEPA endorsement or recommendation for use. The peer review for this article was managed by the Editorial Board without the involvement of R Bruins and L Kapustka. This is 1 of 4 papers generated from the SETAC Pellston Workshop "Ecosystem Services, Environmental Stressors and Decision-Making," organized in 2014 by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and the Ecological Society of America. The main workshop objective was to develop consensus about, and practical guidance for, the application of the ecosystem services concept to environmental decision making as part of a movement towards environmental sustainability.
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2007
Ecological risk assessments typically are organized using the processes of planning (a discussion... more Ecological risk assessments typically are organized using the processes of planning (a discussion among managers, stakeholders, and analysts to clarify ecosystem management goals and assessment scope) and problem formulation (evaluation of existing information to generate hypotheses about adverse ecological effects, select assessment endpoints, and develop an analysis plan). These processes require modification to be applicable for integrated assessments that evaluate ecosystem management alternatives in terms of their ecological, economic, and social consequences. We present 8 questions that define the steps of a new process we term integrated problem formulation (IPF), and we illustrate the use of IPF through a retrospective case study comparing 2 recent phases of development of the Fire Program Analysis (FPA) system, a planning and budgeting system for the management of wildland fire throughout publicly managed lands in the United States. IPF extends traditional planning and problem formulation by including the explicit comparison of management alternatives, the valuation of ecological, economic and social endpoints, and the combination or integration of those endpoints. The phase 1, limitedprototype FPA system used a set of assessment endpoints of common form (i.e., probabilities of given flame heights over acres of selected land-resource types), which were specified and assigned relative weights at the local level in relation to a uniform national standard. This approach was chosen to permit system-wide optimization of fire management budget allocations according to a cost-effectiveness criterion. Before full development, however, the agencies abandoned this approach in favor of a phase 2 system that examined locally specified (rather than system-optimized) allocation alternatives and was more permissive as to endpoint form. We demonstrate how the IPF process illuminates the nature, rationale, and consequences of these differences, and argue that its early use for the FPA system may have enabled a smoother development path. Integr
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2008
The framework for ecological risk assessments has provided a way to analyze stressors in the envi... more The framework for ecological risk assessments has provided a way to analyze stressors in the environment. Despite the power of this tool to inform environmental management decisions, the practice has not reached its full potential. In this paper, limitations of the practice are described under 2 categories, namely inherent and contrived. Inherent limitations are constraints of nature that we need to be aware of as we design and interpret studies. Contrived limitations are impediments that have arisen in the practice through precedent or policy. The closing portion of this paper provides a series of short-term and long-term steps that could remove some of the limitations, especially the contrived ones, and improve the usefulness of risk assessments.
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2007
Toxicity reference values (TRVs) are essential in models used in the prediction of the potential ... more Toxicity reference values (TRVs) are essential in models used in the prediction of the potential for adverse impacts of environmental contaminants to avian and mammalian wildlife; however, issues in their derivation and application continue to result in inconsistent hazard and risk assessments that present a challenge to site managers and regulatory agencies. Currently, the available science does not support several common practices in TRV derivation and application. Key issues include inappropriate use of hazard quotients and the inability to define the probability of adverse outcomes. Other common problems include the continued use of no-observed-and lowest-observed-adverse-effect levels (NOAELs and LOAELs), the use of allometric scaling for interspecific extrapolation of chronic TRVs, inappropriate extrapolation across classes when data are limited, and extrapolation of chronic TRVs from acute data without scientific basis. Recommendations for future TRV derivation focus on using all available qualified toxicity data to include measures of variation associated with those data. This can be achieved by deriving effective dose (EDx)-based TRVs where x refers to an acceptable (as defined in a problem formulation) reduction in endpoint performance relative to the negative control instead of relying on NOAELs and LOAELs. Recommendations for moving past the use of hazard quotients and dealing with the uncertainty in the TRVs are also provided.
Visualize printing all 24 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the head of a pin. In 1959, ... more Visualize printing all 24 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the head of a pin. In 1959, Richard Feynman articulated this reality in an insightful address at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society. In what became a prophetic speech, ''There's plenty of room at the bottom'' [1], Feynman discussed manipulating and controlling matter on a small scale. Back then, forward thinking conjured images of going to the moon in an era when computers occupied entire floors of buildings. Fifty years later, we no longer have to imagine. We are actively manipulating and controlling materials and devices on the scale of nanometers.
Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are increasingly entering the environment with uncertain conseque... more Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are increasingly entering the environment with uncertain consequences including potential ecological effects. Various research communities view differently whether ecotoxicological testing of ENMs should be conducted using environmentally relevant concentrations-where observing outcomes is difficult-versus higher ENM doses, where responses are observable. What exposure conditions are typically used in assessing ENM hazards to populations? What conditions are used to test ecosystem-scale hazards? What is known regarding actual ENMs in the environment, via measurements or modeling simulations? How should exposure conditions, ENM transformation, dose, and body burden be used in interpreting biological and computational findings for assessing risks? These questions were addressed in the context of this critical review. As a result, three main recommendations emerged. First, researchers should improve ecotoxicology of ENMs by choosing test endpoints, durat...
Table 1. Names and affiliations of participants in workshop entitled Integrating Ecosystem Resear... more Table 1. Names and affiliations of participants in workshop entitled Integrating Ecosystem Research into Radioecology in the Nuclear Age held in Aiken S.C. on October 3 rd-5 th , of 2016.
Integrated environmental assessment and management, Jan 31, 2016
Explicit consideration of the benefits that humans receive from ecosystems, commonly called ecosy... more Explicit consideration of the benefits that humans receive from ecosystems, commonly called ecosystem services, has the potential to improve environmental management decision making. The importance of ecosystem services to human well-being was highlighted by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005) and in 2009 Daily et al. proposed a conceptual framework and sketched out a strategic plan for delivering on the promise of ecosystem services: that is increasing the recognition of environmental benefits in decision making. This paper, along with others published around the same time (Fisher et al. 2009; De Groot et al. 2010), raised a number of challenges that had to be addressed to mainstream the ecosystem services approach into environmental decision making. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2015
Intent. The intent of Learned Discourses is to provide a forum for open discussion. These article... more Intent. The intent of Learned Discourses is to provide a forum for open discussion. These articles reflect the professional opinions of the authors regarding scientific issues. They do not represent SETAC positions or policies. And, although they are subject to editorial review for clarity, consistency, and brevity, these articles are not peer reviewed. The Learned Discourses date from 1996 in the North America SETAC News and, when that publication was replaced by the SETAC Globe, continued there through 2005. The continued success of Learned Discourses depends on our contributors. We encourage timely submissions that will inform and stimulate discussion. We expect that many of the articles will address controversial topics, and promise to give dissenting opinions a chance to be heard. Rules. All submissions must be succinct: no longer than 1000 words, no more than 6 references, and at most one table or figure. Reference format must follow the journal requirement found on the Internet at http:\\www. setacjournals.org. Topics must fall within IEAM's sphere of interest. Submissions. All manuscripts should be sent via email as Word attachments to Peter M Chapman
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2009
This is 1 of 4 papers reporting on the results of an SETAC technical workshop titled ''The Nexus ... more This is 1 of 4 papers reporting on the results of an SETAC technical workshop titled ''The Nexus Between Ecological Risk Assessment and Natural Resource Damage Assessment Under CERCLA: Understanding and Improving the Common Scientific Underpinnings,'' held 18-22 August 2008 in Montana, USA, to examine approaches to ecological risk assessment and natural resource damage assessment in US contaminated site cleanup legislation known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
Features of presettlement vegetation of the Nemadji River watershed were determined from surveyin... more Features of presettlement vegetation of the Nemadji River watershed were determined from surveying records covering three counties in two states. Data from 3,346 .. trees indicated major distributional differences in portions of the watershed. White pine (Pinus strobus bl was the predominant species of the Glacial Lake Duluth Basin, while Tamarack (Larix laricin~ (Du Roi, K. Koch) characterized the surrounding area of glacial till'. In addition, forests occupying ravines were , in general, composed of larger individuals and exhibted less evidence of reproduction than trees in adjacent uplands, which might suggest less erosional disturbance than is evident today.
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2016
Intent. The intent of Learned Discourses is to provide a forum for open discussion. These article... more Intent. The intent of Learned Discourses is to provide a forum for open discussion. These articles reflect the professional opinions of the authors regarding scientific issues. They do not represent SETAC positions or policies. And, although they are subject to editorial review for clarity, consistency, and brevity, these articles are not peer reviewed. The Learned Discourses date from 1996 in the North America SETAC News and, when that publication was replaced by the SETAC Globe, continued there through 2005. The continued success of Learned Discourses depends on our contributors. We encourage timely submissions that will inform and stimulate discussion. We expect that many of the articles will address controversial topics, and promise to give dissenting opinions a chance to be heard. Rules. All submissions must be succinct: no longer than 1000 words, no more than 6 references, and at most one table or figure. Reference format must follow the journal requirement found on the Internet at http://www. setacjournals.org. Topics must fall within IEAM’s sphere of interest. Submissions. All manuscripts should be sent via email as Word attachments to Peter M Chapman ([email protected]). e: im ly Sien tfic O Learned Discourses Editor Peter M Chapman Chapema Environmental Strategies Ltd. 1324 West 22nd Avenue North Vancouver, BC V7P2G4 [email protected]
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2016
Ecological production functions (EPFs) link ecosystems, stressors, and management actions to ecos... more Ecological production functions (EPFs) link ecosystems, stressors, and management actions to ecosystem services (ES) production. Although EPFs are acknowledged as being essential to improve environmental management, their use in ecological risk assessment has received relatively little attention. Ecological production functions may be defined as usable expressions (i.e., models) of the processes by which ecosystems produce ES, often including external influences on those processes. We identify key attributes of EPFs and discuss both actual and idealized examples of their use to inform decision making. Whenever possible, EPFs should estimate final, rather than intermediate, ES. Although various types of EPFs have been developed, we suggest that EPFs are more useful for decision making if they quantify ES outcomes, respond to ecosystem condition, respond to stressor levels or management scenarios, reflect ecological complexity, rely on data with broad coverage, have performed well previously, are practical to use, and are open and transparent. In an example using pesticides, we illustrate how EPFs with these attributes could enable the inclusion of ES in ecological risk assessment. The biggest challenges to ES inclusion are limited data sets that are easily adapted for use in modeling EPFs and generally poor Disclaimer The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute USEPA endorsement or recommendation for use. The peer review for this article was managed by the Editorial Board without the involvement of R Bruins and L Kapustka. This is 1 of 4 papers generated from the SETAC Pellston Workshop "Ecosystem Services, Environmental Stressors and Decision-Making," organized in 2014 by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and the Ecological Society of America. The main workshop objective was to develop consensus about, and practical guidance for, the application of the ecosystem services concept to environmental decision making as part of a movement towards environmental sustainability.
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2007
Ecological risk assessments typically are organized using the processes of planning (a discussion... more Ecological risk assessments typically are organized using the processes of planning (a discussion among managers, stakeholders, and analysts to clarify ecosystem management goals and assessment scope) and problem formulation (evaluation of existing information to generate hypotheses about adverse ecological effects, select assessment endpoints, and develop an analysis plan). These processes require modification to be applicable for integrated assessments that evaluate ecosystem management alternatives in terms of their ecological, economic, and social consequences. We present 8 questions that define the steps of a new process we term integrated problem formulation (IPF), and we illustrate the use of IPF through a retrospective case study comparing 2 recent phases of development of the Fire Program Analysis (FPA) system, a planning and budgeting system for the management of wildland fire throughout publicly managed lands in the United States. IPF extends traditional planning and problem formulation by including the explicit comparison of management alternatives, the valuation of ecological, economic and social endpoints, and the combination or integration of those endpoints. The phase 1, limitedprototype FPA system used a set of assessment endpoints of common form (i.e., probabilities of given flame heights over acres of selected land-resource types), which were specified and assigned relative weights at the local level in relation to a uniform national standard. This approach was chosen to permit system-wide optimization of fire management budget allocations according to a cost-effectiveness criterion. Before full development, however, the agencies abandoned this approach in favor of a phase 2 system that examined locally specified (rather than system-optimized) allocation alternatives and was more permissive as to endpoint form. We demonstrate how the IPF process illuminates the nature, rationale, and consequences of these differences, and argue that its early use for the FPA system may have enabled a smoother development path. Integr
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2008
The framework for ecological risk assessments has provided a way to analyze stressors in the envi... more The framework for ecological risk assessments has provided a way to analyze stressors in the environment. Despite the power of this tool to inform environmental management decisions, the practice has not reached its full potential. In this paper, limitations of the practice are described under 2 categories, namely inherent and contrived. Inherent limitations are constraints of nature that we need to be aware of as we design and interpret studies. Contrived limitations are impediments that have arisen in the practice through precedent or policy. The closing portion of this paper provides a series of short-term and long-term steps that could remove some of the limitations, especially the contrived ones, and improve the usefulness of risk assessments.
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2007
Toxicity reference values (TRVs) are essential in models used in the prediction of the potential ... more Toxicity reference values (TRVs) are essential in models used in the prediction of the potential for adverse impacts of environmental contaminants to avian and mammalian wildlife; however, issues in their derivation and application continue to result in inconsistent hazard and risk assessments that present a challenge to site managers and regulatory agencies. Currently, the available science does not support several common practices in TRV derivation and application. Key issues include inappropriate use of hazard quotients and the inability to define the probability of adverse outcomes. Other common problems include the continued use of no-observed-and lowest-observed-adverse-effect levels (NOAELs and LOAELs), the use of allometric scaling for interspecific extrapolation of chronic TRVs, inappropriate extrapolation across classes when data are limited, and extrapolation of chronic TRVs from acute data without scientific basis. Recommendations for future TRV derivation focus on using all available qualified toxicity data to include measures of variation associated with those data. This can be achieved by deriving effective dose (EDx)-based TRVs where x refers to an acceptable (as defined in a problem formulation) reduction in endpoint performance relative to the negative control instead of relying on NOAELs and LOAELs. Recommendations for moving past the use of hazard quotients and dealing with the uncertainty in the TRVs are also provided.
Visualize printing all 24 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the head of a pin. In 1959, ... more Visualize printing all 24 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the head of a pin. In 1959, Richard Feynman articulated this reality in an insightful address at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society. In what became a prophetic speech, ''There's plenty of room at the bottom'' [1], Feynman discussed manipulating and controlling matter on a small scale. Back then, forward thinking conjured images of going to the moon in an era when computers occupied entire floors of buildings. Fifty years later, we no longer have to imagine. We are actively manipulating and controlling materials and devices on the scale of nanometers.
Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are increasingly entering the environment with uncertain conseque... more Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are increasingly entering the environment with uncertain consequences including potential ecological effects. Various research communities view differently whether ecotoxicological testing of ENMs should be conducted using environmentally relevant concentrations-where observing outcomes is difficult-versus higher ENM doses, where responses are observable. What exposure conditions are typically used in assessing ENM hazards to populations? What conditions are used to test ecosystem-scale hazards? What is known regarding actual ENMs in the environment, via measurements or modeling simulations? How should exposure conditions, ENM transformation, dose, and body burden be used in interpreting biological and computational findings for assessing risks? These questions were addressed in the context of this critical review. As a result, three main recommendations emerged. First, researchers should improve ecotoxicology of ENMs by choosing test endpoints, durat...
Table 1. Names and affiliations of participants in workshop entitled Integrating Ecosystem Resear... more Table 1. Names and affiliations of participants in workshop entitled Integrating Ecosystem Research into Radioecology in the Nuclear Age held in Aiken S.C. on October 3 rd-5 th , of 2016.
Uploads
Papers by Larry Kapustka