ECOMORPH: A modelling approach to the physiological effects of contaminant exposure
- Inst. de Ambiente e Vida, Coimbra (Portugal)
- Univ. of Stirling (United Kingdom)
Daphnia magna is both an ubiquitous filter feeder in freshwater ecosystems and a standard organism in ecotoxicology. Physiological effects of toxicants under chronic exposure have been extensively documented for Daphnia in the literature. In ecotoxicology, the usual individual test endpoints are growth, reproduction and survival. These are not always the direct result of exposure to a contaminant although they can be a side-effect of feeding depression. Thus, food deprivation experiments were used to identify and model key physiological processes under contaminant exposure. Insight from these experiments was used to develop an individual physiological model. The model was fully validated for D. magna using several classes of toxicants (including metals and organics). The model describes Daphnia growth, moulting, and reproduction dynamically while incorporating direct, non-lethal effects of toxicants. This ECOMORPH model is currently being developed for other organisms using the same structural framework, and can be used to predict the physiological effects of contaminant exposure.
- OSTI ID:
- 201199
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9613%%176
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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