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SUMMARY:Using stream biofilms to assess ecotoxicological effects
DTSTART:20150414T161500
DTEND:20150414T171500
DTSTAMP:20260407T045509Z
UID:21552f7664380f3f3c9b4c9333b54951802bcf73c52416ebd6a95acf
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Ahmed Tlili\, Environmental Ecotoxicology\, EAWAG Duebendor
 f\nAbstract:\nCommunity ecotoxicology arose from the need to increase ecol
 ogical relevance of ecotoxicological risk assessment by describing pattern
 s in community structure in response to toxicant exposures and explaining 
 the underlying mechanisms for these patterns. Being composed of many speci
 es displaying different sensitivities to toxicants\, microbial communities
  reflect to some extent the biological variability and complexity in ecosy
 stems. Biofilms\, a consortium of auto- and heterotrophic organisms embedd
 ed in an extracellular polymer matrix\, are involved in critical ecosystem
  functions and form the basis of the food web in streams. Organisms compos
 ing these biofilms are very sensitive to chemicals\, which can rapidly aff
 ect their structure and functions\, justifying their use as early-warning 
 indicators of toxicant exposure. Therefore\, this talk will focus on the r
 elevance of using stream biofilms as an interface to monitor effects of to
 xicants on biological communities. Several case studies will be provided t
 o illustrate the theoretical background of this topic.Short biography:\nDr
  Tlili obtained PhD in ecotoxicology and microbial ecology\, in 2010 in Fr
 ance. The PhD was done at the Cemagref Institute in Lyon\, where he worked
  on the ecological significance of microbial tolerance to organic and inor
 ganic pollutants in streams. Then in 2011 he moved to the Leibniz-Institut
 e for Freshwater Ecology and Inland fisheries (IGB) in Stechlin-Germany\, 
 where he worked on the effects of silver nanoparticles on autotrophic and 
 heterotrophic microbial communities in streams. Since 2014\, Dr Tlili move
 d to Eawag in Switzerland where he continues working on nanoparticle effec
 ts but also on the impacts of waste water treatment plants on stream ecolo
 gy. Overall\, his research interest is in applying approaches that conside
 r biological and chemical complexity to assess the effects of chemical con
 taminations in ecosystems by exploring the interface between ecotoxicology
  and ecology fields.
LOCATION:GR A3 31 http://plan.epfl.ch/?room=GR%20A3%2031
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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