Presentation of the EFSA's second scientific conference, held on 14-16 October 2015 in Milan, Italy. ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT

1. Protection Goals, Assessment
Endpoints, Ecosystem Services and
Biodiversity
Glenn Suter
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EFSA Scientific Conference, Milan, Italy
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or
policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

2. A Hierarchy
• Goals are set by legislation
• Protect the physical, chemical and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters
• Scientific assessments require more specificity
• Assessment endpoints
• An entity and attribute
• Biotic communities and species composition
• Implemented using measures of effect
• A SSD of relevant effects metrics and species

3. What are Appropriate Assessment Endpoints?
• What is cancer for ecosystems?
• EPA/RAF Developed Generic Endpoints for Ecological Risk Assessment
• Based on
• legislative goals
• Regulatory language
• Precedents
• Examples
• Extirpation, abundance or production of populations
• Area and quality of habitat for threatened or endangered species

4. Ecosystem Services
• Recognized need for ecological assessments to be more relevant to
more people
• Effects on conventional attributes of ecological entities can be
translated into changes in provision of ecosystem services
• Production functions
• Useful for communicating ecological risks to decision makers and
stakeholders
• Translated by economists into benefits
• Developing Generic Ecosystem Services Endpoints
• Not yet published-but close
• To supplement, not replace ecological endpoints

5. For More on Ecosystem Services as Assessment
Endpoints see:
Munns, WR Jr., AW Rea, GW Suter II, L Martin, L Blake‐Hedges,
T Crk, C Davis, G Ferreira, S Jordan, M Mahoney and MG
Barron. 2015. Ecosystem services as assessment endpoints for
ecological risk assessment. Integr. Environ. Assess. Manag.
DOI: 10.1002/ieam.1707

8. The dissolved mineral salts are toxic.

9. 9
Benchmark Calculation – HC05 = 297 µS/cm
Conductivity Benchmark
Effect Level
5th
percentile

10. So What?
• The benchmark is good science
• Passed multiple peer reviews
• But a state official asked, “What are mayflies good for?”
• At a Superfund site an official asked, “Why should I care about bugs in
the mud?”
• And the same sorts of questions must arise with respect to pesticides
in streams that kill aquatic insects.
• Ecosystem services provide answers.

11. Aquatic insects as food for larger animals
• Fish
• The most easily converted to monetary benefits
• Amphibians
• Birds
• Bats
• Semi-aquatic mammals

12. Stream insects perform ecosystem functions
• Nutrient retention
• Litter decomposition
• Cleaning rocks
• Participating in element cycles
• Stabilization of stream beds
• Stream recovery
• Removal of suspended algae and pathogenic microbes

13. ↑ Nutrient
Retention
↑ Litter
Shredding
↑Forest
Production
↑Timber
↑Wildlife
Production
↑Recreation &
Aesthetics
↑ Lumber &
Firewood
↓Aqueous
Nutrients
↓Algal
Production
↑Dissolved
Oxygen
↑ Water
Aesthetics
↑
Invertebrates
↑ Fish
Macroinvertebrate
Functions
↑ Habitat
↑ Particle
Collection
↑ Scraping
↓ Turbidity
↑ Pathogen
Removal
↑ Human
Health
↑ Stream
Aesthetics
Periphyton
Biomass
↑Recreation ↑ Food
↑Recreation
↑ Drinking
Water
Quality
↓Water
Treatment
Conceptual Model of Ecosystem Services

14. Direct human uses
• Indicators of water and sediment quality
• Recreational fishing
• Creeking
• Education
• Collecting and watching
• Photography
• Literary images and metaphors
• Commercial and recreational symbols
• Art and design
• Potential physical and chemical products

15. For more on services of aquatic insects:
Suter, GW II and SM Cormier. 2015. Why care about aquatic insects:
uses, benefits and services. Integr. Environ. Assess. Manag. 11: 188-
194.
DOI: 10.1002/ieam.1600

16. Summary
• Even if you are not performing an economic analysis, ecosystem
services are a useful communication tool
• Do not stop with the obvious or economically quantifiable services
• Quantify what you can and describe the rest
• Even a mayfly can be a thing of beauty and a joy for ever
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency

17. Photo copyright by D. Norton