Spatial extrapolation in ecological effect assessment of chemicals

The spatial extrapolation of ecotoxicological effect data is an important issue in ecological risk assessment. New mapping technologies based on remote sensing provide the basis for detailed topographic models from which relevant environmental and ecological conditions and spatial process rates can be initially deduced or hypothesized. Ecological risk assessment is well advanced in developed regions of the world, but it is less advanced in many developing nations. The global distribution of species is a consequence of evolutionary, geological, and ecological factors and processes, and has been influenced by human activity. The spatial distribution of pollutants in ecosystems and landscapes tends to be patchy or aggregated. Experimental aquatic ecosystems have become widely used tools in ecotoxicology because they allow for a greater degree of control, replication, and repeatability than is achievable in natural ecosystems. Landscape analysis allows the development of “risk maps” that show the spatial distribution of concentrations of toxic chemicals.