Risk Assessment for Biodiversity: an integrated approach

Performing a risk assessment for biodiversity is a difficult task because it covers several issues and most of them suffer for a lack of crucial information. Several indicators have been developed to assess some aspect of biodiversity on the national, international or global scale but they often do not cover the complexity of the problem..This work represents an attempt for developing, within ALARM Project, a tool for biodiversity risk assessment that integrates approaches and results coming from different disciplines (Ecotoxicology, Landscape Ecology, Hearth Sciences). A GIS-based procedure to asses ecotoxicological site-specific risk on biodiversity is described. In particular, the risk from pesticides for aquatic and terrestrial (epigean and hypogean) ecosystems is addressed. The methodology is based on an integration of databases, algorithms for pesticide exposure evaluation, risks indices, landscape’s patch analysis using Geographical Information System for managing models input data and results in a distributed way on the territory. Molecular properties, as chemical-physical and toxicological data of active ingredients, and environmental characteristics, as land use, crop distribution, landscape elements are managed for elaborating and developing realistic application scenarios [1]. The methodology allows calculating exposure and ecotoxicological risk indices for the main organisms representative of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The use of GIS allows accounting for the spatial variability of input data and output results. The procedure is based on the application of Ecotoxicological Risk Indices, Species Sensitivity Distribution, Indices of Landscape Ecology, Habitat Suitability Indices. All these approaches are integrated, and evaluated in a site specific perspective, in order to assess suitability and vulnerability of ecosystems and to develop site specific landscape maps. The application of this methodology, and its further implementation (e.g. with meteo-climatic provisional scenarios, with temporal evolution of stressors, with socio-economic assessment), could represent and useful tool in order to combine and optimise provisional risk assessment for biodiversity supporting policy development. A case history is described, referred to the application of the methodology at different scales (from field to regional) in order to underline the flexibility of the site-specific approach. An example of pesticide risk assessment for biodiversity is presented. The results allow comparing active ingredients to draw a classification of the environmental sustainability of their use, to protect ecosystems and to evaluate vulnerability related to landscape elements.