Objective The project is designed to improve hazard and risk assessment of chemical contaminants in soil at the ecosystem level using terrestrial model ecosystems (TMEs). TMEs consist of encased intact (non-homogenized) soil-cores that are extracted from field sites with the minimum of disturbance to the natural vegetation, soil microflora and fauna, and the layering of the soil inside the cores. The size of a soil-core will be between 17 and 2a cm in diameter and between 30 and 60 cm in depth. Parameters such as biological diversity and activity, cycling of essential elements, biodegradation of organic matter, biodegradation and accumulation of xenobiotic substances will be investigated to integrate structural and functional aspects of the soil environment. A key feature of the TME assemblage is that it allows determination of the potential fate and ecological effects of test substances in a replicated system of soil-cores. Four different soil types, representative of defined "Euro-soils", will be used as terrestrial ecosystems in a ring-test performed by four participating European laboratories. Initially, the selected sites will be surveyed for species composition, and checked for homogeneity prior to soil-core extraction. After preparing the TME equipment and establishing the methods for measuring the various end-points a pre-test with a selected test substance will be performed. The test substance will be chosen after consultation and agreement with national and international competent authorities (e.g. Joint Research Centre, European Chemicals Bureau; Federal Environmental Agency of Germany) who are responsible for environmental risk assessments of existing and new chemicals. Based on the experience gained in the pre-test the TME main-test will be conducted in the following year in combination with a field study to validate the results from the TME test. Three treatment levels will be used, one of which is close to the predicted environmental concentration, one of which is 5 to 10 times higher and the control. After application of the test substance the test period will be at least 12 weeks and can be extended to one year. In order to minimize inter-laboratory variation, strict harmonisation of equipment and experimental procedure will be rigorously applied and individual laboratories will handle certain designated tasks for all participants. The TME project firstly will provide improved effect data which help to evaluate single-species test results; secondly, experimentally gained fate data will allow significantly improved fate assessments; thirdly, the data gained on ecosystem functioning, which has been neglected so far in the environmental risk assessment of chemicals, may reveal indirect as well as synergistic or compensatory effects of a test substance at ecosystem level. The innovative step of the project will be to field-validate and ring-test the TME system which is necessary before it can be integrated within ecologically relevant risk assessment procedures. Fields of science social sciencespolitical sciencespublic administrationbureaucracynatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems Programme(s) FP4-ENV 2C - Specific programme of research and technological development in the field of environment and climate, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 02020102 - Risks to the environment Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator ECT Ökotoxikologie GmbH EU contribution No data Address 2-14,Böttgerstraße 65439 Flörsheim Germany See on map Total cost No data Participants (4) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Italy EU contribution No data Address Via Enrico Fermi 1, TP 460 21020 BARASSO See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF WALES - BANGOR United Kingdom EU contribution No data Address Deiniol Road LL57 2UW Bangor - Gwynedd See on map Total cost No data Universidade de Coimbra Portugal EU contribution No data Address Largo Marquês de Pombal 3049 Coimbra See on map Total cost No data VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT AMSTERDAM - VERENIGING VOOR CHRISTELIJK WETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERWIJS Netherlands EU contribution No data Address 1087,De Boelelaan 1087 1081 HV AMSTERDAM See on map Total cost No data
