Page 753 - The Toxicology of Fishes

17

Aquatic Ecosystems for Ecotoxicological Research:

Considerations in Design Analysis for Fish

Thomas W. La Point, James H. Kennedy, Jacob K. Stanley, and Pinar Balci

CONTENTS
Introduction............................................................................................................................................733
Mesocosms as Model Ecosystems...............................................................................................734
Historical Perspective ............................................................................................................................735
Biomagnification ..........................................................................................................................736
Model Ecosystems .................................................................................................................................736
Microcosms ..................................................................................................................................736
Enclosures.....................................................................................................................................737
Pond Systems ...............................................................................................................................737
Artificial Streams..........................................................................................................................737
Analysis of Mesocosm Studies....................................................................................................739
Design Considerations ...........................................................................................................................739
Scaling Effects in Artificial System Research.............................................................................739
Variability .....................................................................................................................................741
Colonization and Acclimation......................................................................................................741
Macrophytes .................................................................................................................................742
Fish ...............................................................................................................................................743
Chemical Fate Considerations .....................................................................................................744
Experimental Design and Statistical Considerations ............................................................................744
Experimental Design Considerations...........................................................................................744
Endpoint Selection .......................................................................................................................745
Species Richness, Evenness, Abundance, and Indicator Organisms...........................................745
Univariate Methods ......................................................................................................................746
Multivariate Methods ...................................................................................................................746
Summary ................................................................................................................................................747
References..............................................................................................................................................747

Introduction

Environmental managers responsible for assessing the ecological integrity of aquatic resources rely on
a number of assessment tools including chemical analyses of water, sediment, and fish tissue; biological
assessments; and toxicity tests. Toxicity testing, under both field and laboratory conditions, is important
for assessing chemical impact on aquatic ecosystems. In aquatic toxicity tests, groups of selected
organisms are exposed to test materials (water or sediment samples) under defined conditions to deter-
mine potential adverse effects. Detailed guidance manuals for marine and freshwater toxicity tests are
available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and other nongovernmental groups
such as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or the American Public Health Association

733