Spatially Explicit Analysis of Metal Transfer to Biota

Advancing exposure assessment approaches to improve wildlife risk assessment

“…Agent‐based risk assessment modeling tools such as the Animal, Landscape and Man Simulation System (ALMaSS; https://projects.au.dk/almass) can better predict multiple exposures and the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of landscape use by animals and their interactions with pesticide applications (Mayer et al, 2020; Topping et al, 2020). Several retrospective risk assessments have demonstrated the benefits of using detailed habitat data and spatially explicit chemical data for wide‐ranging wildlife species (Fritsch et al, 2013; Johnson et al, 2021). Simple to more complex spatial exposure models can incorporate multiple scenarios based on the species‐specific and individual variation in diet, trophic position, and foraging ecology.…”

“…Agent‐based models are a powerful tool to simulate exposure and assess risk related to pesticides at the landscape level, with examples of use on various taxa such as birds (Johnson et al, 2007; Topping et al, 2020) and mammals (Dalkvist et al, 2013; Topping et al, 2016; Topping & Weyman, 2018). Spatially based models have the capability to not only aid in the assessment of exposure and risk but also help in designing sampling plans, evaluation of management alternatives, and scenario building through the simulation of landscape patterns and contamination maps (Fritsch et al, 2013; Topping et al, 2020). Figure 2 presents a comparison of two evaluation approaches—one a screening approach and the other an example of integrating contamination heterogeneity with habitat variation using the Breaking Ecotoxicological Restraints in Spatial Planning (BERISP) model (N. W. van den Brink et al, 2007).…”