Abstract
Reliability and relevance are key criteria in making ecotoxicological observations and designing ecotoxicity tests. Reliability involves careful sampling design and requires detailed ecological knowledge of the subjects for sensible interpretation of results and for the long-term maintenance of cultures to support testing programmes. Relevance again involves a detailed understanding of the effect observed and its relationship to possible adverse impacts on the ecological systems of interest. In the latter case, it seems unlikely that it will be possible to consider detailed ecological models linking cause with effect for the risk assessment of the large numbers of chemicals that have to be scrutinized by ecotoxicity. Hence a series of general ‘rules of thumb’, guiding the design and interpretation of ecotoxicological observations and tests are suggested for further consideration and debate.
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Calow, P. (1996). Ecology in ecotoxicology: some possible ‘rules of thumb’. In: Baird, D.J., Maltby, L., Greig-Smith, P.W., Douben, P.E.T. (eds) ECOtoxicology: Ecological Dimensions. Chapman & Hall Ecotoxicology Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1541-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1541-1_2
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