Title

A test of the community conditioning hypothesis: Persistence of effects in model ecological structures dosed with the jet fuel jp-8

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2-2009

Keywords

Community conditioning, Turbine fuel, Microcosm, Nonequilibrium systems, Indicators

Abstract

The foundation of the community conditioning hypothesis, the persistence of effects, was tested in a series of microcosm experiments. Experiments were conducted with the water-soluble fraction of the turbine fuel JP-8 using the standard protocols for the standardized aquatic microcosm (SAM). A repeat trial was conducted using the SAM protocol but with a 126-d test period, twice the standard duration. The results were examined using a variety of conventional univariate, multivariate, and graphical techniques. The principal conclusions were as follows. Effects are persistent in these model ecological systems long after the degradation of the toxicant. Patterns of impacts are detectable at concentrations 15 times lower than an experimentally derived single-species EC50. The replicate experiments are not replicable in the specific, but the broad pattern of the disruption of algal- herbivore dynamics followed by more subtle effects are consistently repeated. The durability of the indirect effects and therefore the information about historical events appears to be a consistent feature of these microcosm systems. The identity of the treatment groups persists. The critical features of the community conditioning hypothesis—persistence of information within ecologicalsystems and the reappearance of patterns and therefore the nonequilibrium dynamics—are again confirmed. The implications of these findings for environmental toxicology, monitoring, and ecological risk assessment are discussed.

Publication Title

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Volume

19

First Page

327

Last Page

336

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.5620190212

Type

Text

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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