Laboratory ecosystems

Holm HW, Kollig HP, Proctor LM, etal. 1982. Laboratory ecosystems for studying chemical fate An evaluation using methyl parathion. Athens, GA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development. EPA-600/S3-82/020. 

Hamala, J.A. and H.P. KoUig. 1985. The effects of atrazine on periphyton communities in controlled laboratory ecosystems. Chemosphere 14 1391-1408. 

The environmental impact of a new product needs to be assessed before it can be released for general use. Chemicals released into the environment can enter the food chain and be concentrated in plants and animals. Aquatic ecosystems are particularly sensitive, in this respect, since chemicals, when applied to agricultural land, can be transported in the ground water to rivers and then to the lakes, where they can accumulate in fish and plant life. The ecokinetic model presented here is based on a simple compartmental analysis and is based on laboratory ecosystem studies (Blau et ah, 1975). The model is useful in simulating the results of events, such as the accidental spillage of an agrochemical into a pond, where it is not ethical to perform actual experimental studies. 

Ali, S. Degradation and environmental fate of endosulfan isomers and endosulfan sulfate in mouse, insect, and laboratory ecosystem, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Illinois, Ann Arbor, Ml, 1978. 

Gile, l.D. and Gillett, l.W. Fate of selected fungicides in a terrestrial laboratory ecosystem, J. Agric. Food Chem., 27(6) 1159-1164.1979. 

Laboratory ecosystems. Multispecies laboratory microcosms are proposed as tools for demonstrating ecological effects both biologically and statistically. Examples for microcosms, the statistical properties of the data and design criteria for microcosms were presented by Crow Taub (1979). 

Gile, J.D. and J.W. Gillet. Fate of Seleeted Fungicides in a Terrestrial Laboratory Ecosystem, J. Agric. Food Ghent., 27 1159-1164 (1979). 

Blau, G.E., Neely, W.B. and Branson, D.R. 1975. Ecokinetics astudy of thefateand distribution of chemicals in laboratory ecosystems. Amer. Chem. Ing. J. 21 854-861. 

Hanson, W. C., and Eberhardt, L. L. (1971). Cycling and Compartmentalizing of Radionuclides in Northern Alaskan Lichen Communities, USAEC, COO-2122-5. Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Ecosystems Department, Battelle Richland, Washington. 

Gledhill W E, Saeger V W (1987), Degradation of sodium polyglyoxylate, a non-persistent metal sequestrant, in laboratory ecosystems , J Ind Microbiol, 2, 97—105. 

Laboratory studies have also investigated the interaction of air pollutants and the reproductive cycle of certain plants. Subtle changes in reproduction in a few susceptible species can render them unable to survive and prosper in a given ecosystem. 

The second level of interaction, the intermediate-dose level, can result in measurable effects on forest ecosystems. These effects consist of a reduction in forest growth, change in forest species, and susceptibility to forest pests. Both laboratory investigations and field studies show SO2 to be an inhibitor of forest growth. When various saplings have been exposed to SO2 in the laboratory, they show reduction in growth compared with unexposed... 

We must also consider the consequences of forty years of ecosystem pollution loading. Compared with soil analyses of heavy metal concentrations made in 1965, cadmium, copper, lead and zinc levels are now elevated 24) to the point where laboratory studies have shown that red spruce root and shoot growth is reduced, growth of obligatory mycorrhizal fungi is repressed and... 

Olson, J. S. Watts, J. A. Allison, L. J. Carbon in Live Vegetation of Major World Ecosystems ORNL-5862 Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge, TN, 1983. 

Gile JD, Gillett JW. 1981. Transport and fate of organophosphate insecticides in a laboratory model ecosystem. J Agric Food Chem 2 616-621. 

Varanasi, U., Stein, J.E., and Reichert, W.L. et al. (1992). Chlorinated and aromatic hydrocarbons in bottom sediments, fish and marine mammals in US coastal waters laboratory and field studies of metabolism and accumulation. In C.H. Walker and D.R. Livingstone (Eds.) Persistent Pollutants in Marine Ecosystems, Oxford, U.K. Pergamon Press, 83-118. 

Plasmid transmission and the stability of plasmids in natural ecosystems have received considerable attention, but caution should be exercised in drawing general conclusions on the basis of the sometimes fragmentary evidence from laboratory experiments. Some important principles are illustrated by the following ... 

Frescholtz 2002). Although ongoing and new planned field and laboratory studies are designed to further test this hypothesis, we feel that it is warranted at this time to develop a pilot-scale network of aimual ecosystem fluxes of THg in TF and LF as indicators of total atmospheric deposition. These fluxes can then be compared with measured wet plus modeled diy deposition based on both inferential and regional-scale models to develop independent estimates of total atmospheric deposition for forested catchments. We also believe that this approach could eventually be applied to a national network, such as the MDN. Although this method is best aimed at forested sites, ongoing research will address methods appropriate for other ecosystems. 

Data collected in drift studies may later be interpreted in risk assessments in conjunction with toxicity data for specific sensitive areas. Eor example, a risk assessment for determination of appropriate mitigation (if necessary) may include field study data on exposure risk from drift, along with information on other routes of exposure (e.g., dislodgable residues, runoff, etc.) and toxicity data from laboratory and/or field study models. The results of such an assessment may be used to estimate whether a given exposure represents a hazard to any specific entity or ecosystem. 

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