Review of aquatic in situ approaches for stressor and effect diagnosis.
Field-based (in situ) approaches are used increasingly for measuring biological effects and for stressor diagnoses in aquatic systems because these assessment tools provide realistic exposure environments that are rarely replicated in laboratory toxicity tests. Providing realistic exposure scenarios is important because environmental conditions can alter toxicity through complex exposure dynamics (e.g., multiple stressor interactions). In this critical review, we explore the information provided by aquatic in situ exposure and monitoring methods when compared with more traditional approaches and discuss the associated strengths and limitations of these techniques. In situ approaches can, under some circumstances, provide more valuable information to a decision maker than information from surveys of resident biota, laboratory toxicity tests, or chemical analyses alone. A decision tree is provided to assist decision makers in determining when in situ approaches can add value.
Crane
Mark
M
Watts & Crane Associates, 23 London Street, Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 7AG, United Kingdom. mark.crane@wfcenvironment.co.uk
Burton
G Allen
GA
Culp
Joseph M
JM
Greenberg
Marc S
MS
Munkittrick
Kelly R
KR
Ribeiro
Rui
R
Salazar
Michael H
MH
St-Jean
Sylvie D
SD
D044822:Biodiversity; D003657:Decision Making; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical