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Population Modeling to Support Ecological Risk Assessment
Background
The mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment upon which life depends. Whereas human health protection is focused primarily on individual humans and their health, ecological protection requires consideration of diverse aquatic and wildlife populations to preserve the biological integrity of ecosystems. This mandate requires scientifically sound, generalized approaches to evaluate and predict population status and trends. It also requires an understanding of how anthropogenic stressors affect populations, and the management strategies to restore those that are adversely affected. Research to advance ecological risk assessment knowledge bases and methods, particularly with respect to the effects of anthropogenic stressors on populations of aquatic life and wildlife, is critical to strengthening the Agency's ability to assess ecological risks and weigh risk management options in an objective and scientifically defensible manner.
Approach
The Division's population modeling research is developing the tools and specific models that will allow EPA to assess pesticide risk to non-target populations of aquatic species and wildlife. This research focuses on development and application of both spatially-independent and spatially-explicit population models and involves contrasting land-use and pesticide-use scenarios. Additionally, catalogues of models for particular species and classes of life histories are being developed to provide the information needed to solve a variety of ecological risk assessment problems in the future. The overall objective of this research is to build a capability for population risk assessment that will address a number of Agency problems.
Contact: Tim Gleason