Solving complex field hormesis puzzle?

Le résumé fourni par la source

Hormesis is a biphasic dose-response phenomenon where low doses of a stressor stimulate biological activity, while high doses inhibit it. This pattern is now widely observed across biological systems. Given the widespread presence of microcontaminants in the environment, hormesis may be far more common than once thought, with important implications for ecological risk assessment, environmental toxicology, and planetary health in the Anthropocene. However, a key challenge remains: although hormesis is well-documented in controlled lab studies, predicting how it operates in real-world ecosystems remains difficult. This uncertainty stems from the fact that hormesis is not a fixed property of a chemical, but depends on an organism’s physiological condition and metabolic flexibility, which vary with natural environmental conditions. This article proposes that linking the variability in hormetic responses to core principles of energy metabolism offers a promising way forward. Physiological energetics, particularly through Dynamic Energy Budget theory, may help reveal the underlying mechanisms. This approach can extend conventional doseresponse models by quantifying how stressors affect energy acquisition and allocation, as well as trade-offs between growth, maintenance, and reproduction. We argue that explicitly including energy budget mechanisms in predictive ecological models is essential to improve the realism and reliability of forecasts about low-dose stimulatory effects. By framing hormesis in terms of energy, we can build a more unified, process-based, and predictive understanding of how organisms and ecosystems respond to low levels of environmental stress.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.