ABSTRACT
R. Efroymson et al. proposed a preliminary ecological framework for population-level ecological risk assessments (ERAs), which they applied to a case study evaluating the effects of habitat removal and fragmentation from petroleum exploration and production activities on population densities and extinction probabilities of vertebrates. The Scientific Steering Committee of the European Commission’s Health and Consumer Protection Directorate General published a report on risk assessment for animal populations with emphasis on wildlife. Population viability analysis is a process of identifying the threats faced by a species population and evaluating the likelihood that the species population will persist for a given time into the future. Population level ERA can be used as an additional line of evidence for supporting the conclusions of risk assessment based on laboratory or field monitoring and experimental data. Approaches for the analysis phase of population level risk assessment include empirical methods and population models. Empirical methods for population risk assessment include direct measurement and empirical extrapolation.
