Transcript Slide 1
Use of ecological models for risk
assessments of plant protection products in
Europe
Pernille Thorbek
Outline of talk
1. Introduction: Why do we need ecological models?
2. EFSA Guidance on Good Modelling Practice
3. Case Study
4. Conclusions
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Protection goals
EFSA protection goals opinion:
● “To ensure ecosystem services, taxa representative for the key drivers
identified need to be protected at the population level or higher.”
● “However, for aesthetic reasons (cultural ecosystem services) it may be
decided to protect vertebrates at the individual level. “
● “To protect biodiversity, impacts at least need to be assessed at the
scale of the watershed/landscape.”
EFSA Journal 2010;8(10):1821
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Match between standard tests and protection goals
Measured
Protection goal
Exposure
Maintained or simple
decline
Realistic (often variable)
Exposure (birds, acute)
Gavage
Natural feeding pattern
Species
Standard species
Naturally occurring
species
Endpoints
Individual level
Population level (or
higher)
Spatial scale
Lab/Local
Watershed, landscape
● Higher tier tests (e.g. field and mesocosm) closer to protection goals –
but expensive and time consuming
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Risk at higher levels of organisation
● Effects of pesticides on populations of non-target
organisms depend both on exposure and sensitivity to
the toxicant, and on:
- life-history characteristics
- population structure
- density dependence
- landscape structure
● Higher levels
- Interactions between species
● Ecological models can combine such factors
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EFSA Opinion 1821
EFSA protection goals opinion:
● “Given that most of the services under the selected specific protection
goals are performed by populations or groups of populations,
development of appropriate population models for use in risk
assessment is needed.”
EFSA Journal 2010;8(10):1821
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Ecological models (mechanistic effects models, MEMs)
are not new
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Outline of talk
1. Introduction: Why do we need ecological models?
2. EFSA Guidance on Good Modelling Practice
3. Case Studies
4. Conclusions
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When is a model good enough?
● Good modelling practice
- Scientifically sound
- Practical
- Transparent
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Trust
me!
WHAT DO WE NEED TO BASE DECISIONS ON
MODELS?
● What IS the model? Conceptually and formally
● Why has it been designed this way?
● Has it been correctly implemented?
● Has it been thoroughly analyzed?
● Are the main effects well understood?
● How sensitive is model output to changes in
parameters and model structure? How uncertain is
model output?
● What are the indicators that the model is a
sufficiently good representation of its real
counterpart?
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Important developments over the last 7 years
dN
BD I E
dt
http://cream-itn.eu/
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RUC 2010: INTEGRATING
POPULATION MODELING
INTO ECOLOGICAL RISK
ASSESSMENT
SETAC EU SAG MeMoRisk
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Principles of good modelling practice
Schmolke et al. 2010
Grimm et al. 2014
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How to link current endpoints with protection goals
Lab based
endpoint on
effects (e.g.
LD50 or NOEC)
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What will the
effects on
individuals be
under field
exposure?
What impact will
that have on the
population level?
What impact will
that have on the
ecosystem
level?
TK/TD modelling
Population Models
Ecosystem models
•Exposure profile
•Life history
•Species interactions
•Toxicokinetics
•Population structure
•Landscape structure
•Toxicodynamcis
•Density dependence
What effect will
exposure have
on ecosystem
services?
Ecological
Economic models
•Value of the
ecosystem service
•Cost benefit analysis
Outline of talk
1. Introduction: Why do we need ecological models?
2. EFSA Guidance on Good Modelling Practice
3. Case Study
4. Conclusions
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BEEHAVE team and collaborators
Juliet Osborne
(now at ESI, Univ. Exeter)
Matthias Becher
(now at ESI, Univ. Exeter)
Peter Kennedy
(now at ESI, Univ. Exeter)
Judith Pell
(now at J.K. Pell Consultancy)
Jack Rumkee
Jennifer Swain
Volker Grimm
Juliane Horn
Peter Campbell
Pernille Thorbek
David Chandler
Gillian Prince
Sally Hilton
International
Keith Delaplane
advisors:
Steve Martin
Peter Neumann
Thomas Schmickl
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Becher, Grimm, Thorbek, Horn, Kennedy & Osborne, submitted
Model development of BEEHAVE
● The BEEHAVE model is based on a review of existing honeybee models
and bee biology
● It has been extensively tested (verification, sensitivity analysis,
comparison with independent data, pattern oriented validation)
● Is freely available with full model description and user manual
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Other models: Henry et al. 2012 Science
● Estimated homing failure of
honeybees following
exposure to neonics
● Used Khoury et al. 2011
PlosOne model
● Predicted widespread
colony losses (but see
Cresswell & Thompson’s
comments)
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Model design
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Becher, Grimm, Thorbek, Horn, Kennedy & Osborne, JoAE
Reran scenario with BEEHAVE
● High forage flow (no limitaitons to colony growth) or Low forage flow
(keep the colonies at the threshold of survival).
● Normal or doubled probability of forager mortality following Henry et al.
(2012) for a 30 day period (seperate runs for each month in the year)
● Only one forage patch in landscape
● All scenarios were run for 5 years, reporting colony sizes and losses at
the end of each year.
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Becher, Grimm, Thorbek, Horn, Kennedy & Osborne, submitted
Colony size after 1 and after 5 years
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Becher, Grimm, Thorbek, Horn, Kennedy & Osborne, submitted
Colony losses (low forage only)
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Becher, Grimm, Thorbek, Horn, Kennedy & Osborne, submitted
Outline of talk
1. Introduction: Why do we need ecological models?
2. EFSA Guidance on Good Modelling Practice
3. Case Studies
4. Conclusions
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Conclusions
● Different types of models answer different types of questions
● Good models improve understanding of what risk a toxicant poses to
populations
- Also aid design of mitigation measures
● Good models take investment
- Need to capture the key drivers affecting the population dynamics
- Need to capture exposure and effects
● Models that mechanistically capture main drivers of system can be used
for much wider extrapolations than models that statistically relate cause
and effect
● Once a model has been developed it is (relatively) cheap to use
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Thanks for your attention!
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