Making Lemonade from Lemons: The use of contaminants in answering ecological questions
Anne McLeod, Memorial University of Newfoundland, [email protected]
G. Doug Haffner, Great Lakes Institute, Univ. of Windsor, [email protected]
Abstract
Ecological communities are experiencing unprecedented upheaval from habitat alterations and biological invasions to anthropogenic climate change. Anticipating and predicting community response to these stressors is becoming more critical, however, the scale and synergy of these pressures makes this difficult. Here, we synthesize the last couple decades of toxicology research to demonstrate their utility in solving broader ecological problems. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous. They are one of the most widely studied classes of chemical contaminants with decades of research focussed on their uptake and elimination pathways, as well as factors regulating their bioaccumulation. In recent decades studies have moved away from studying PCBs for toxicokinetic purposes and into using them as environmental tracers. The persistence and bioaccumulative nature of PCBs, which is precisely what made them so useful in industry, is also what makes them the ideal tracer to examine a wide range of ecological questions from trophic ecology and eltonian niches, to energy and nutrient dynamics in aquatic systems. Through the use of specific case studies and general theory we hope to stimulate discussion for future projects integrating contaminant tracers.
1. Keyword
food chains
2. Keyword
invasive species
3. Keyword
PCBs
4. Additional Keyword
Ecology
5. Additional Keyword
Ecological Tracers