ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author summarizes the principle issues remaining for full implementation and acceptance of population-level ecological risk assessment. A goal of protecting the population as a valued resource, or of minimizing the adverse effects of some environ mental stressor, may necessitate information about chemical, Issues and Recommendations biological, and physical components required to support the assessment population. An issue for any assessment is the relative effort that should be allocated among empirical and modeling approaches for population-level ecological risk assessment. Measuring or predicting population-level effects is only part of the challenge for the risk assessment or risk management process the significance of changes in population attributes because of exposure to stressors must be interpreted to understand risks. One of the greatest outstanding challenges to acceptance of population-level ecological risk assessment as a decision support tool is its understanding and acceptance by risk managers and stakeholders.
