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OOS-8:
Contaminants in aquatic systems: Individual effects and community
consequences
Monday,
August 8, 1:30 PM - 5 PM, Meeting
Rooms 510b and 510d, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Organizers:
Jake Kerby (jlkerby@ucdavis.edu),
Rick Relyea
Description:
A
great deal of ecology (particularly aquatic ecology) is often studied with the
implicit assumption that our study sites are free of anthropogenic contaminants
or that they are present at concentrations that are unimportant. However, an
increasing number of studies are detecting contaminants in both impacted and
“pristine” sites. While there is a large body of literature present on the
toxicology of various contaminants using standard test organisms under standard
laboratory conditions, only recently have we begun to appreciate the effects of
contaminants across a diversity of species under more natural conditions. As a
result of this research, it is becoming increasingly clear that contaminants not
only have direct effects on individuals, but can also have widespread effects
that are transmitted throughout food webs. Hence, contaminants have the
potential to impact entire communities and ecosystems. In this session, we bring
together the leaders in the field (drawing from a diverse range of taxa,
systems, scales, and biological disciplines) to provide a comprehensive overview
of how contaminants can impact ecological systems.
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