Pesticide risk assessment tool ecology

What are the benefits of using ecological modeling as a pesticide risk assessment tool ... 

What Are the Benefits of Using Ecological Modeling as a Pesticide Risk Assessment Tool ... 

Ecological models were identified as potentially important tools for the following topics in pesticide risk assessment ... 

This is admittedly a strong statement, but it is based on the acknowledgment of the diversity, complexity, extent, and slow dynamics of most ecosystems. Modeling has become an indispensable tool for ecology and is employed for addressing all kinds of theoretical and applied problems. There is no reason to believe that pesticide risk assessment should be an exception. 

In conclusion, understanding the biotransformation of pesticides is a useful tool in determining species dependent and mechanistic effects of these compounds in fish and helps to reduce uncertainty in ecological risk assessment strategies. 

If ecological modeling is to become a standard tool for risk assessments of pesticides, all stakeholders involved need to understand what models are and how they are developed. It is important to realize that models by definition ignore many, if not most, aspects of real systems in order to identify key factors of the system s internal organization. Models are based on assumptions that are implemented, tested, and revised. Model development is iterative and ends when certain acceptance criteria are fulfilled. To assess or evaluate a model, we need to know its purpose. 

The aim of our stock taking was to prove that these key issues need to be addressed explicitly and in a systematic, standardized way. There needs to be a clearly defined set of criteria by which models can be assessed so that all stakeholders involved in pesticide registration gradually build up confidence in ecological models as a tool for decision making. In this way, we could eventually start utilizing the potential of ecological models to overcome the inherent limitations of risk assessments that focus on effects at the level of individuals (Chapter 2). 

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