title: Ecological Recovery Potential of Freshwater Organisms: Consequences for Environmental Risk Assessment of Chemicals.
abstract: Chemical contaminants released into the in the environment may have adverse effects on (non-target) species, populations and communities. The return of a stressed system to its pre-disturbance or other reference state, i.e. the ecological recovery, may depend on various factors related to the affected taxon, the ecosystem of concern and the type of stressor with consequences for the assessment and management of risks associated with chemical contaminants. Whereas the effects caused by short-term exposure might be acceptable to some extent, the conditions under which ecological recovery can serve as a decision criterion in the environmental risk assessment of chemical stressors remains to be evaluated. For a generic consideration of recovery in the risk assessment of chemicals, we reviewed case studies of natural and artificial aquatic systems and evaluate five aspects that might cause variability in population recovery time: (1) taxonomic differences and life-history variability, (2) factors related to ecosystem type and community processes, (3) type of disturbance, (4) comparison of field and semi-field studies, and (5) effect magnitude, i.e., the decline in population size following disturbance. We discuss our findings with regard to both retrospective assessments and prospective risk assessment.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 1, Aachen, 52074, Germany. andre.gergs@bio5.rwth-aachen.de.|Department of Environmental, Social and Spatial Change, Roskilde University, Universitetsvej 1, Roskilde, 4000, Denmark. andre.gergs@bio5.rwth-aachen.de.
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gergs
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Ecosystem Analysis and Assessment (gaiac), Kackertstrasse 10, Aachen, 52072, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Classen
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Ecosystem Analysis and Assessment (gaiac), Kackertstrasse 10, Aachen, 52072, Germany.
authors.forename: Tido
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Strauss
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 1, Aachen, 52074, Germany.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ottermanns
authors.affiliation: Alterra, Team Environmental Risk Assessment, Wageningen University and Research Centre, 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Theo C M
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Brock
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 1, Aachen, 52074, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans Toni
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Ratte
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME), Auf dem Aberg 1, Schmallenberg, 57392, Germany.
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hommen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 1, Aachen, 52074, Germany.|Bayer Cropscience, Alfred-Nobel-Str. 50, Monheim am Rhein, 40789, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Preuss
mesh_terms: D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000187:drug effects*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005618:Fresh Water; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Environmental risk assessment; Freshwater community; Plant protection products; Recolonization; Recovery