Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons^™

Density-Dependent Effects Of A Toxicant On Life-History Traits And Population Dynamics Of A Capitellid Polychaete, Inez Linke-Gamenick, Valery E. Forbes, Richard M. Sibly

Valery Forbes Publications

The toxic effects of the widespread polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), fluoranthene (FLU), on Life-history traits of Capitella sp. M as a function of population density were investigated in a life-table-response-experiment (LTRE) lasting 134 d. Animals from laboratory cultures were exposed to 6 different FLU concentrations (range 0 to 80 μg FLU [g dry wt sed]^–1, ppm) at 3 population densities (range 529 to 36 842 worms m^–2), and survivorship, growth rate until maturity, and reproductive parameters were recorded. Fluoranthene exposure significantly reduced juvenile survivorship in a concentration- dependent manner, whereas population density had no effect on …

Studying Stress In Ecological Systems: Implications For Ecological Risk Assessment And Risk Management, Valery E. Forbes

Valery Forbes Publications

In many of the world’s habitats abiotic stress is a key force controlling the distribution and abundance of species. As a result of human activities, the role of abiotic stress appears to be increasing in many areas in the form of habitat alteration or destruction, chemical contamination, and large-scale climatic shifts. An important scientific goal, therefore, is to develop approaches for assessing and predicting damage to ecological systems arising from abiotic stress. Moreover, determining how interactions between human-caused stresses and natural environmental stresses impact biological systems is an active area of research. This Invited Feature highlights some of the main …

Effects Of 4-N-Nonylphenol On Life-History Traits And Population Dynamics Of A Polychaete, Flemming T. Hansen, Valery E. Forbes, Thomas L. Forbes

Valery Forbes Publications

A Life-Table-Response Experiment lasting 78 d was performed to investigate the toxic effects of sediment-associated 4-n-nonylphenol (NP) on growth, reproduction, and survivorship of isolated hermaphrodites of the infaunal polychaete Capitella sp. I. Demographic effects were evaluated using both a fully age-classified and a simple twostage model to estimate population growth rates (λ). Decomposition analysis was performed to explore the contributions of each of the affected life-history traits to the effects observed on l. Elasticity analysis was applied to examine the relative sensitivity of λ to changes in each of the different life-history traits under different exposure levels.

In the lowest …