Mesocosm experiments in the approval procedure for pesticides
3 Methods
The present guideline has been elaborated on the basis of
 | a thorough examination of existing literature within the area, |
| a critical review of investigations based on objective criteria, |
| construction of a database containing all relevant data, |
| statistical analyses elucidating the effects of pesticides on the various groups of organisms, the influence of mesocosm system characteristics on pesticide impact, etc. |
In risk evaluation ecological, socio-economic and regulatory endpoints are typically included. In this report only endpoints derived directly from measurements or calculations of specific parameters within tests have been included.
Two different approaches have been applied in the study. We have used a multivariate statistical method to examine relationships between toxic effects of pesticides and system characteristics such as mesocosm design, season and location of study. This analysis has been carried out at a rather high level of taxonomy and organism functionality to satisfy the requirement of data within each group. These analyses have been supplemented by more detailed analysis using traditional statistics to examine differences in sensitivity, potentials of recovery etc. within taxonomic groups.