Review by Choice Review
The second Savannah River Symposium on Environmental Sciences (June 1994) contributed to the maturation of ecotoxicology. Its participants, largely drawn from the Savannah River Laboratory and other academic centers, provide 14 chapters including an introduction to the scientific basis of ecotoxicology and ending with a comparison of ecotoxicology approaches with ecosystem studies. In between, the papers cover metals and organics, bioamplification, and organismic responses at the molecular, cell, and tissue levels. Particularly unique are the very interesting chapters on ecologically meaningful effects of ecotoxicologic studies and on the relationship of population dynamics to toxic effects. An evolutionary perspective is provided as well: how do toxic agents exert a selective effect on populations and ecosystems? If ecologists could only appreciate just how far ecotoxicology is shifting to embrace ecologic principles, the advances could be accelerated with both theory and experimental designs. As it is, this book makes very interesting reading. It is not a "how-to" or "methods" work; rather it is thought-provoking and comes the closest to marrying ecotoxicology with ecological risk assessment and ecology. All levels. J. Burger Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
