Earthworms in Environmental Research - Earthworm Ecology - page 322

probably the most important aspect. Sensitivity and field validation studies have often been insuf-
ficient to ensure the relevance of ecological exposure and effect models to real world situations.Ò
Jepson (1993) claimed that the current emphasis on toxicological criteria at the expense of ecological
factors can result in a detailed description of local toxic effects of a contaminant but neglect of the
consequences at a population level. In this context, he recommended a long-term risk analysis at
the scale of total earthworm populations, hence not just the field or the farm but the agricultural
landscape. In this way, the total pattern and frequency of exposure of earthworms to toxic chemicals
can be combined for pollutants with short or long persistence in soils, small or large application
areas, and high or low application frequencies. Moreover, this can include the impacts of pollutants
in temporary habitats or pollutants affecting dispersive invertebrates. The SCARAB (seeking con-
firmation about results of Boxworth) project reported by Tarrant et al. (1997) compared total
agricultural management systems with normal vs. low inputs of pesticides over a long period. These
kinds of studies may provide the data for the above-suggested long-term assessments of toxicant
impacts at the landscape scale. Burger and Gochfeld (1992) called for incorporating appropriate
temporal time scales and critical life stages into ecological risk assessment.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The help of Mathilde Zorn in updating this chapter is gratefully acknowledged.
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