This short course introduces students to biostatistics as applied to ecotoxicological studies. The basic principles and methods used in biostatistics are covered in this short course. This includes the technical qualifications necessary for exploring, analysing and interpreting data from both controlled experiments, in particular standardized ecotoxicity tests, and field monitoring. Beyond conventional tests such as ANOVA and its variants, an overview of other less conventional approaches will be provided to broaden statistical toolbox and ensure students to make proper use of their data.

Topics covered include:

• Statistical approach.
• Uni- and multivariate statistics to monitor toxicants and estimate their effects on organisms.
• OECD guidance on the statistical analysis of ecotoxicity tests: comparison of the no/lowest observed effect concentrations approach (NOEC/LOEC) to dose-response approaches and the estimation of effective concentrations (ECx).
• Basic use of R software.

• Explore experimental design, identify main statistical methods and choose the most appropriate one.
• Verify assumptions and interpret results.
• Analyse ecotoxicity tests and ecological data.

Basic statistical knowledge

Evaluation Continue Intégrale (ECI) 100%

Bibliography

- N. Gotelli. 2004. A primer of ecological statistics, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

- C. Dytham. 2003.          Choosing and using statistics : a biologist’s guide, Blackwell, Malden (MA).