Risk Assessment: Tools, Techniques, and Their Applications

4.8 Ecological Risk Assessment

Ecological risk assessment (ERA) is a process that is used to help determine what risks are posed by an industry, government, or other entity. It further provides a logical process to help eliminate or mitigate such threats.

An ERA evaluates the potential adverse effects that human activities have on the living organisms (plants and animals) that make up ecosystems. The risk assessment process provides a way to develop, organize, and present scientific information so that it is relevant to future and present environmental decisions. When conducted for a particular place such as a forest or wetland, the ERA process can be used to identify vulnerable and valued resources, prioritize data collection activity, and link human activities to their potential effects. ERA results provide a basis for comparing different management options and enabling decision makers and the public to make better informed decisions about the management of ecological resources (26).

As EPA guidance states, ERAs are used to support many types of management actions, including the regulation of hazardous waste sites, industrial chemicals, and pesticides, or the management of watersheds or other ecosystems affected by multiple nonchemical and chemical stressors. The ERA process has several features that contribute to effective environmental decision making (26):

• Through an iterative process, new information can be incorporated into risk assessments that can then be used to improve ...