Ecological Risk Assessment of Contaminants in Soil

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Introduction

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Ecological approaches in soil ecotoxicology

      • Nico M. Van Straalen, Hans Løkke

      Pages 3-21

3. Extrapolation from Experiments

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 23-23

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   2. Scientific basis for extrapolating results from soil ecotoxicity tests to field conditions and the use of bioassays

      • Cornelis A. M. Van Gestel

      Pages 25-50

   3. Is it possible to develop microbial test systems to evaluate pollution effects on soil nutrient cycling?

      • John Dighton

      Pages 51-69

4. Populations in Soil

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 71-71

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   2. Ecotoxicology, biodiversity and the species concept with special reference to springtails (Insecta: Collembola)

      • Stephen P. Hopkin

      Pages 73-83

   3. Effects of toxicants on population and community parameters in field conditions, and their potential use in the validation of risk assessment methods

      • Leo Posthuma

      Pages 85-123

5. The soil as an ecosystem

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 125-125

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   2. Linking structure and function in marine sedimentary and terrestrial soil ecosystems: implications for extrapolation from the laboratory to the field

      • Thomas L. Forbes, Liv K. Kure

      Pages 127-156

   3. A food-web approach to assess the effects of disturbance on ecosystem structure, function and stability

      • John C. Moore, Peter C. De Ruiter

      Pages 157-171

6. The spatial component of soil communities

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 173-173

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   2. Scale dependency in the ecological risks posed by pollutants: is there a role for ecological theory in risk assessment?

      • Paul C. Jepson

      Pages 175-189

   3. Dispersal, heterogeneity and resistance: challenging soil quality assessment

      • Göran Bengtsson

      Pages 191-212

7. The role of ecological modelling

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 213-213

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   2. The use of models in ecological risk assessment

      • Joke Van Wensem

      Pages 215-231

   3. A physiologically driven mathematical simulation model as a tool for extension of results from laboratory tests to ecosystem effects

      • Jørgen Aagaard Axelsen

      Pages 233-250

8. Ecological approaches: case studies

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 251-251

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   2. Extrapolation of laboratory toxicity results to the field: a case study using the OECD artificial soil earthworm toxicity test

      • David J. Spurgeon

      Pages 253-273

Many industrialized and developing countries are faced with the assessment of potential risks associated with contaminated land. A variety of human activities have left their impacts on soils in the form of elevated and locally high concentrations of potential toxicants. In several cases sources have not yet been stopped and contamination continues. Decisions on the management of contaminated sites and on the regulation of chemicals in the terrestrial environment require information on the extent to which toxicants adversely affect the life support function of soils. Ecological insights into the soil as an ecosystem may support such decisions. This book reviews the latest ecological principles that should be considered in this respect.

• Fitness
• contaminants
• contamination
• ecological principles
• ecosystem
• ecosystems
• ecotoxicity
• ecotoxicology
• environment
• nutrient cycling
• pollutants
• pollution
• soil
• toxicity
• toxicology

`This text will be a valuable reference for those in this field of research, and its sponsors.'
Biologist

• Department of Ecology and Ecotoxicology, Vrije Universiteit, The Netherlands

  Nico M. Straalen

• Department of Terrestrial Ecology, National Environmental Research Institute, Denmark

  Hans Løkke

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