A baseline-ecosystem approach to the analysis of ecotoxicological effects

Since 1980 the German Ministry of Research has sponsored a number of ecotoxicological research projects aimed at the analysis of effects of environmental chemicals on terrestrial ecosystems. Some of these field studies were conducted by using a baseline-ecosystem approach, the theoretical framework of which is given. It is demonstrated by the baseline ecosystem derived from a ruderal site. The results from the German ecotoxicology program concerning some features of structural and functional responses of ecosystems to chemicals are summarized. Many effects observed in “real nature” could be attributed to the substances under study as side effects due to the integrative approach. This means that without knowledge of the structure and function of a biogeocoenosis reliable predictions of chemically induced changes at the ecosystem level will not be possible.