Putting ‘eco’ into ecotoxicology: A revisit

Abstract

This review paper is specially dedicated to the late Dr. Peter Chapman (1951-2017) who sadly passed away on 26 September 2017, leaving behind a loving family and many friends and colleagues around the world. Peter served as our keynote speaker in the last ICMPE-8 Conference in 2016, and delivered an inspiring keynote about how to assess and manage multiple stressors in the changing marine environment. He concluded his talk with three highly ecologically relevant questions for us to think about: how we can determine tipping points of the ecosystem, maintain ecosystem services, and manage competing ecosystem services in the marine environment which is exposing to multiple stressors (i.e., climate change; habitat change/loss; overfishing; invasive species; harmful algal blooms/eutrophication; and, chemical contaminants). In 2002, Peter published a viewpoint paper in Marine Pollution Bulletin (44: 7-15) entitled ‘Integrating toxicology and ecology: putting the “eco” into ecotoxicology’. He highlighted the problem that the majority of researchers in the field of environmental toxicology conventionally mainly focused on testing toxicity of chemical contaminants via lab-based bioassays with cultivated species, and seldom gave adequate consideration of ecology in the natural environment such as biological interaction and coexisting stressors in the site of concern. Peter, therefore, suggested a framework to combine ecology and toxicology for ecological risk assessment and decision making. There are four objectives of this review paper. First, I examine whether we have advanced the integration between toxicology and ecology since 2002. Second, some relevant ecological theories that can be applied to ecotoxicology are highlighted with examples. Third, opportunities of application of the next-generation sequencing of DNA and RNA are emphasised as a way to put “eco” into ecotoxicology. Finally, a call for more integration of ecology and toxicology is advocated. In summary, integration of toxicology and ecology has been in progress with some notable advancements (e.g. SSD; field-based SSD; trait-based ERA; studies on multiple stressors) since 2002. More unification of relevant ecological theories is warranted to improve the capability for predicting consequences of chemical contaminants and other stressors on the ecosystem. Advances of genomic approaches offer unprecedented opportunities for uncovering ecological responses to stressors. To make ecology as a ‘main ingredient’ rather than being seen as a ‘seasoning’ in ecotoxicology, concerted efforts from all stakeholders are needed; in particular, governmental supports and intensified political will are crucial.