Eijsackers Herman J P, Groot Mirjam, Breure Anton M
Programme Committee Netherlands Stimulation Programme on System-oriented Ecotoxicological Research, The Netherlands.
Sci Total Environ. 2008 Dec 1;406(3):373-84. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.05.057. Epub 2008 Jul 25.
In the 1990s the Dutch government expressed the need to investigate the impacts of diffuse pollution at (sub)-ecosystem levels. The resulting Netherlands Stimulation Programme on System-oriented Ecotoxicological Research (SSEO programme) ran from 1998 to 2006. Its primary objective was to assess the impacts of low- to medium-level, diffuse, multiple contaminations on ecosystems. The research results were intended as underpinning for policies on environmental, conservation and nature issues. Research was carried out at three sites that were selected because of their importance for nature management and the presence of diffuse contamination. These sites were: a river meadow/floodplain area (Afferdensche en Deestsche Waarden), an estuarine reed-land area (Biesbosch) and an area of lowland peat soils that had been contaminated with urban waste in past centuries (De Ronde Venen). This introductory paper describes the set-up of the programme, the types of diffuse contamination, the interactions between pollutants and other stress factors, the various methodologies used to integrate the effects on (sub)ecosystem level, and the consequences for formulating policies for and the management of these types of locations. The results of the programme are diverse and complicated and show how difficult it is to draw firm, unambiguous, generic conclusions about the effects at the 'total' ecosystem level. It is however, possible to draw conclusions about effects on major components of ecosystems: 1) The distribution of contaminants, both from a spatial, chemical and ecotoxicological point of view, plays a decisive role in actual effect levels. Even when total contaminant loads are high, such as in estuarine and floodplain areas, bioavailability may be so low that the actual effects are limited. The irregular, heterogeneous, spatial distribution of contaminants in the soil further complicates effect studies, impact assessments and monitoring. 2) Various stress factors, other than contaminants, both natural and anthropogenic, also play a role. The negative effect of the repeated inundation of floodplain areas, for instance, greatly interferes with the impact of contaminants in the lower soil layers. 3) A major problem is to find a method to extrapolate the observations from individual and population levels to the ecosystem level. In addition to traditional food-chain models and similar approaches, the potential of other, not yet extensively explored, ecosystem interaction mechanisms is discussed. 4) Finally, the results have to be interpreted from a policy point of view, both for national soil policies and for implementing the EU Soil Strategy regulations.
20世纪90年代，荷兰政府表示有必要在（亚）生态系统层面调查扩散污染的影响。由此产生的荷兰系统性生态毒理学研究促进计划（SSEO计划）从1998年持续到2006年。其主要目标是评估低至中等水平、扩散性的多种污染对生态系统的影响。研究结果旨在为环境、保护和自然问题的政策提供支持。研究在三个地点开展，选择这些地点是因为它们对自然管理的重要性以及存在扩散污染。这些地点分别是：一个河漫滩/洪泛区（阿费尔登斯和德斯特斯瓦尔德）、一个河口芦苇地地区（比斯博斯）以及一个在过去几个世纪被城市垃圾污染的低地泥炭土地区（德龙德韦嫩）。这篇介绍性论文描述了该计划的设置、扩散污染的类型、污染物与其他压力因素之间的相互作用、用于综合（亚）生态系统层面影响的各种方法，以及对制定这些类型地点的政策和管理的影响。该计划的结果多样且复杂，显示了在“整体”生态系统层面就影响得出确凿、明确、通用结论是多么困难。然而，有可能就对生态系统主要组成部分的影响得出结论：1）从空间、化学和生态毒理学角度来看，污染物的分布在实际影响水平中起决定性作用。即使总污染物负荷很高，如在河口和洪泛区，生物可利用性可能很低，以至于实际影响有限。土壤中污染物不规则、不均匀的空间分布进一步使影响研究、影响评估和监测变得复杂。2）除污染物外，各种自然和人为的压力因素也起作用。例如，洪泛区反复被淹没的负面影响极大地干扰了下层土壤中污染物的影响。3）一个主要问题是找到一种方法，将从个体和种群层面的观测结果外推到生态系统层面。除了传统的食物链模型和类似方法外，还讨论了其他尚未广泛探索的生态系统相互作用机制的潜力。4）最后，必须从政策角度解释结果，这既适用于国家土壤政策，也适用于实施欧盟土壤战略法规。
