title: Developing risk hypotheses and selecting species for assessing non-target impacts of GM trees with novel traits: the case of altered-lignin pine trees.
abstract: A procedure is presented for developing environmental risk hypotheses associated with the           deployment of forest trees genetically modified to have altered wood properties and for           selecting non-target species to test these hypotheses. Altered-lignin Pinus             radiata trees intended for use in New Zealand are used as a hypothetical case           study to illustrate our approach. Firstly, environmental management goals (such as wood           production, flood control or preservation of biodiversity) were identified and linked to           the forest attributes they require. Necessary conditions for each attribute were listed           and appropriate assessment endpoints for them developed. For example, biological control           of pests may be one condition necessary for a forest to have healthy trees, and the           diversity and abundance of natural enemy species in the forest could be an appropriate           assessment endpoint for measuring this condition. A conceptual model describing the           relationships between an altered-lignin GM pine tree and potentially affected           invertebrates and micro-organisms in a plantation forest was used to develop a set of risk           hypotheses describing how the GM trees might affect each assessment endpoint. Because           purified lignin does not represent the properties it imparts to wood, maximum hazard dose           tests with non-target organisms, as are used to inform toxin risk assessment, cannot be           conducted. Alternative experiments, based on current knowledge of the responses of           organisms to lignin, must be designed. A screening method was adapted and applied to a           database of invertebrate species known to inhabit New Zealand pine forests to identify and           prioritize non-target invertebrate species that could be used as experimental subjects for           examining these hypotheses. The screening model and its application are presented, along           with a set of recommendations for pre-release tests with GM pines and potentially affected           invertebrates and micro-organisms.
authors.affiliation: The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited (Plant & Food Research), Mt Albert, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland, New Zealand. louise.malone@plantandfood.co.nz
authors.forename: Louise A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Malone
authors.forename: Jacqui H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: Elisabeth P J
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Barbara I P
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Barratt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D007448:Invertebrates; D008031:Lignin / Q000235:genetics*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009520:New Zealand; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D028223:Pinus / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014197:Trees / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D008031:Lignin