Wayne Landis

Western Washington University | WWU · Institute of Environmental Toxicology

The impacts of global climate change are not yet well integrated with the estimates of the impacts of chemicals on the environment. This is evidenced by the lack of consideration in national or international reports that evaluate the impacts of climate change and chemicals on ecosystems, and the relatively few peer‐reviewed publications that have f...

The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) convened a Pellston workshop in 2022 to examine how information on climate change could be better incorporated into the ecological risk assessment (ERA) process for chemicals as well as other environmental stressors. A major impetus for this workshop is that climate change can affect com...

One of the outcomes of the 2021 Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Pellston Workshop on incorporating climate change predictions into ecological risk assessments (Stahl et al. forthcoming) was the key question of how to integrate ecological risk assessments that focus on contaminants with the environmental alterations from climate pr...

Reports of plastics, at higher levels than previously thought, in the water that we drink and the air that we breathe, are generating considerable interest and concern. Plastics have been recorded in almost every environment in the world with estimates on the order of trillions of microplastic pieces. Yet, this may very well be an underestimate of...

Building on an exercise that identified potential harms from simulated investigational releases of a population suppression gene drive for malaria vector control, a series of online workshops identified nine recommendations to advance future environmental risk assessment of gene drive applications.

Problem formulation is a critical initial step in planning risk assessments for chemical exposures to wildlife. It is used either explicitly or implicitly in various jurisdictions to include registration for new pesticides, evaluation of new and existing chemicals released to the environment, and characterization of impact when chemical releases ha...

Gene drive technology has been proposed to control invasive rodent populations as an alternative to rodenticides. However, this approach has not undergone risk assessment that meets criteria established by Gene Drives on the Horizon, a 2016 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. To conduct a risk assessment of gene...

The population level is often the biological endpoint addressed in ecological risk assessments (ERAs). However, ERAs tend to ignore the metapopulation structure, which precludes an understanding of how population viability is affected by multiple stressors (e.g., toxicants and environmental conditions) at large spatial scales. Here we integrate met...

The Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) framework has gained international recognition as a systematic approach linking mechanistic processes to toxicity endpoints. Nevertheless, successful implementation into risk assessments is still limited by the lack of quantitative AOP models (qAOPs) and assessment of uncertainties. The few published qAOP models so...

In 2012 a regional risk assessment was published that applied Bayesian networks to the structure of the relative risk model. The original structure of the relative risk model (RRM) was published in the late 1990s and developed during the next decade. The RRM coupled with a Monte Carlo analysis was applied to calculating risk to a number of sites an...

The use of fish embryo toxicity (FET) data for hazard assessments of chemicals, in place of acute fish toxicity (AFT) data, has long been the goal for many environmental scientists. The FET test was first proposed as a replacement to the standardized AFT test nearly 15 years ago, but as of now, it has still not been accepted as a standalone replace...

A hybrid Bayesian network (BN) was developed for predicting the acute toxicity of chemicals to fish, using data from fish embryo toxicity (FET) testing in combination with other information. This model can support the use of FET data in a Weight-of-Evidence (WOE) approach for replacing the use of ju-venile fish. The BN predicted correct toxicity in...

The goal of this chapter is to present a path to estimate risk due to synthetic biology being released into the environment. Our examples are for organisms released with gene drives specifically designed to alter the fitness of specific populations that either transmit disease or are nonindigenous and pose a hazard to the ecosystem services of a sp...

A Bayesian network was developed for predicting the acute toxicity intervals of chemical substances to fish, based on information on fish embryo toxicity (FET) in combination with other information. This model can support the use of FET data in a Weight-of-Evidence (WOE) approach for replacing the use of juvenile fish. The BN predicted correct toxi...

We estimated the risk to populations of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) due to chlorpyrifos (CH), water temperature (WT) and dissolved oxygen concentrations (DO) in four watersheds in Washington State, USA. The watersheds included the Nooksack and Skagit Rivers in the Northern Puget Sound, the Cedar River in the Seattle ‐Tacoma corridor,...

Predictive modeling can inform natural resource management by representing stressor‐response pathways in a logical way and quantifying the effects on selected endpoints. This study demonstrates a risk assessment model using the Bayesian network‐relative risk model (BN‐RRM) approach to predict water quality and; for the first time, eukaryote environ...

Environmental flow (E-flow) frameworks advocate holistic, regional-scale, probabilistic E-flow assessments that consider flow and non-flow drivers of change in a socio-ecological context as best practice. Regional-scale ecological risk assessments of multiple stressors to social and ecological endpoints, which address ecosystem dynamism, have been...

The fifth edition includes new sections on the use of adverse outcome pathways, how climate change changes how we think about toxicology, and a new chapter on contaminants of emerging concern. Additional information is provided on the derivation of exposure-response curves to describe toxicity and they are compared to the use of hypothesis testing....

Recent developments in Environmental Flow (E-flow) frameworks advocate holistic, regional scale, probabilistic E-flow assessments that consider flow and non-flow drivers of change in socio-ecological context as best practice. Regional Scale ecological risk assessments of multiple sources, stressors and diverse ecosystems that address multiple socia...

We conducted a regional-scale integrated ecological and human health risk assessment by applying the relative risk model with Bayesian networks (BN-RRM) to a case study of the South River, Virginia mercury-contaminated site. Risk to four ecological services of the South River (human health, water quality, recreation, and the recreational fishery) w...

As hydraulic fracturing has increased in recent years, debate has arisen as to its sustainability. In the chapter, we analyzed recent peer-reviewed and nonpeer-reviewed literature involving the environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing. The analysis was based on several factors. The first was for the establishment of cause-effect relationships...

Precautionary approaches to governance of emerging technology call for constraints on the use of technology whose outcomes include potential harms and are characterized by high levels of complexity and uncertainty. Although articulated in a variety of ways, proponents of precaution often argue that its essential feature is to require more evaluatio...

Adaptive management has been presented as a method for the remediation, restoration and protection of ecological systems. Recent reviews have found that the implementation of adaptive management has been unsuccessful in many instances. We present a modification of the model first formulated by Wyant and colleagues that puts ecological risk assessme...

In response to a recent collection of perspectives published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, the authors argue that there is little value in revisiting and rehashing the well-documented issues around toxicity metrics, competing statistical paradigms, legitimacy of theoretical constructs for species sensitivity distributions, and a number...

Renowned mathematician and science historian, Jacob Bronowski once defined science as "the acceptance of what works and the rejection of what does not" and noted "that needs more courage than we might think". Such would also seem to be the case with NOECs and NOELs in ecotoxicology. Compelling arguments were advanced more than a quarter of a centur...

We have conducted a series of regional scale risk assessments using the Bayesian Network Relative Risk Model (BN-RRM) to evaluate the efficacy of two remediation options in the reduction of risks to the South River and upper Shenandoah River study area. The two remediation options considered by South River managers were (1) the implementation of be...

We have conducted a regional scale risk assessment using the Bayesian Network Relative Risk Model (BN-RRM) to calculate the ecological risks to the South River and upper Shenandoah River study area. Four biological endpoints (smallmouth bass, white sucker, Belted Kingfisher and Carolina Wren) and four abiotic endpoints (Fishing River Use, Swimming...

So as to assess how emerging science and new tools can be applied to study multiple stressors at a large (ecosystem) scale and to facilitate greater integration of approaches among different scientific disciplines, a workshop was organised on 10-12 September 2014 at the Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences, Sydney, Australia. The present paper discu...

Six multi-decade-long members of SRA reflect on the 1983 Red Book in order to examine the evolving relationship between risk assessment and risk management; the diffusion of risk assessment practice to risk areas such as homeland security and transportation; the quality of chemical risk databases; challenges from other groups to elements at the cor...

Letter from several members of the EPA Science Advisory Board Panel on Ballast Water and the National Acedemy of Sciences/National Research Council Committee on Ballast Water claiming that the EPA misstated the SAB Panel's findings as support for its proposed discharge standards

This poster presentation discussed the limitations of the current assessment approaches and how multiple stressors at large scales can be better evaluated in ecological risk assessments to inform the development of more efficient and preventive management policies based on adaptive management in the future. It is envisaged that the integration of n...

Many coastal regions are encountering issues with the spread of non-indigenous species (NIS). In this study, we conducted a regional risk assessment using a Bayesian network relative risk model (BN-RRM) to analyze multiple vectors of NIS introductions to Padilla Bay, Washington, a National Estuarine Research Reserve. We had three objectives in this...

A consensus has existed from the mid-2000s that climate change is occurring and is the result of anthropogenic causes (Oreskes 2004). Noyes et al. (2009) published the first description of the potential interactions between a warming environment and toxicology. Four years ago, an editorial in Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (Wenn...

The Relative Risk Model (RRM) is a tool used to calculate and assess the likelihood of effects to endpoints when multiple stressors occur in complex ecological systems. In this study, a Bayesian network was used to calculate relative risk and estimate uncertainty (BN-RRM) in the Puyallup River Watershed. First, we calculated the risk of prespawn mo...

Introduction and spread of the parasite Myxobolus cerebralis, the causative agent of whirling disease, has contributed to the collapse of wild trout populations throughout the intermountain west. Of concern is the risk the disease may have on conservation and recovery of native cutthroat trout. We employed a Bayesian belief network to assess probab...

This is the first of seven papers resulting from a Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) international workshop titled "The Influence of Global Climate Change on the Scientific Foundations and Applications of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry." The workshop involved 36 scientists from 11 countries and was designed to answer...

Changes to sources, stressors, habitats, and geographic ranges; toxicological effects; end points; and uncertainty estimation require significant changes in the implementation of ecological risk assessment (ERA). Because of the lack of analog systems and circumstances in historically studied sites, there is a likelihood of type III error. As a firs...

We present a Bayesian network model based on the ecological risk assessment framework to evaluate potential impacts to habitats and resources resulting from wildfire, grazing, forest management activities, and insect outbreaks in a forested landscape in northeastern Oregon. The Bayesian network structure consisted of three tiers of nodes: landscape...

An issue in forestry management has been the integration of a variety of different information into a threat analysis or risk assessment. In this instance regional scale risk assessment was applied to the Upper Grande Ronde watershed in eastern Oregon to examine the potential of risk assessment for use in the management of broad landscapes. The sit...

The recent accident at the Fukushima I nuclear power plant in Japan (also known as Fukushima Daiichi) captured the world's attention and re-invigorated concerns about the safety of nuclear power technology. The Editors of Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management invited experts in the field to describe the primary issues associated with t...

The field work was carried out over a 3-year period. Extensive sampling of two ponds in the Bloomington, Indiana, area was conducted using a 0.5-m2 grid to ensure the precise determination of the location, patchiness, and size of the populations of the five species of the Paramecium aurelia complex found in central Indiana. The number of killer par...

There remains little doubt that global climate change (GCC) has begun or that there is a need to proactively plan and act to reduce its potential impacts to humans and ecosystems. Whether GCC is real or not is no longer the issue – when and how to deal with its effects at a local, regional, national and global scale are. Generally, scientists invol...

Although the consequences of the homogenization of Earth’s flora and fauna are not well understood, experts agree that biological invasions pose hazards to rare species. As a result, there is a need for a systematic approach to assess risks from invasive species. The Relative Risk Model can be adapted to assess combinations of rare species, invasiv...

Invasive Species Risk Assessment Hierarchical Invasive Risk Model (HIRM) Analysis Results Discussion and Conclusions Acknowledgements References

Hierarchical Invasive Risk Model (HIRM) Case Study 1: Asian Oyster in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland Case Study 2. Nun Moth in the Mid-Atlantic States Invasive Species Risk Assessment Summary and Conclusions Acknowledgement References

An important guide to assessing and managing the environment from a landscape perspective. Ecological relationships are nested within the landscape. Identifying the relevant spatial and temporal scales is critical for an effective understanding of ecological functions that human societies depend upon. Moreover, human encroachment into natural areas...

A SETAC Technical Workshop titled “The Nexus Between Ecological Risk Assessment and Natural Resource Damage Assessment Under CERCLA: Understanding and Improving the Common Scientific Underpinnings,” was held 18–22 August 2008 in Gregson, Montana, USA, to examine the linkage, nexus, and overlap between ecological risk assessment (ERA) and natural re...

The decline of the Cherry Point Pacific herring stock (CPPHS) has been a puzzle of the upper Puget Sound. In this study, age-structured population modeling was used to examine the timing and scale of the dynamics of Pacific herring stocks throughout the Puget Sound region. The intrinsic rate of increase and equilibrium age structure was calculated...

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The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) convened an invited workshop (August 2008) to address coordination between ecological risk assessment (ERA) and natural resource damage assessment (NRDA). Although ERA and NRDA activities are performed under a number of statutory and regulatory authorities, the primary focus of the works...

An industry-funded, long-term, receiving water study was initiated in 1998/1999 to adress questions about the potential effects of pulp and paper mill effluent discharges on US receiving waters. Although the study continues, the knowledge gained to date provides an opportunity to reflect on the study development process, its progress, and its outco...

Lessons learned from the development, implementation, and initial 8 y of study findings from a long-term study to assess the effects of pulp and paper mill effluents on receiving waters are summarized as a conclusion to a series of articles (this issue) on study findings. The study, based on industry-defined information needs, was developed via a s...

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A regional-scale watershed assessment using the relative risk model has now been performed on each of the watersheds that are part of the Long-Term Receiving Waters Study (LTRWS) to generate patterns of risk at each study site. The watersheds assessed included the lower McKenzie and mid-Willamette rivers in Oregon, USA; Codorus Creek in Pennsylvani...

A SETAC Technical Workshop titled “The Nexus Between Ecological Risk Assessment and Natural Resource Damage Assessment Under CERCLA: Understanding and Improving the Common Scientific Underpinnings,” was held 18–22 August 2008 in Gregson, Montana, USA, to examine the linkage, nexus, and overlap between ecological risk assessment (ERA) and natural re...

This edited volume collects population and metapopulation models for a wide variety of species, focusing on the use of models in population-level risk assessment for toxins. Each chapter of Demographic Toxicity describes the application of a population model to one species, with the aim of demonstrating how various life history characteristics of t...

The Ecological Processes and Effects Committee of the US Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board conducted a self-initiated study and convened a public workshop to characterize the state of the ecological risk assessment (ERA), with a view toward advancing the science and application of the process. That survey and analysis of ERA in...

Other chapters in this book deal with the density-dependent regulation of populations (Chapter 4) and population genetics (Chapter 5). However, if we are to perform ecological risk assessment on populations, we need to understand the other basic parameters of these ecological units. Populations do not exist as 2-dimensional graphs, but reside withi...