The ultimate destination for all surface water is the ocean. If pesticide is seen to occur in groundwater, aquatic communities are at risk of potential harm as well. Relyea and Hoverman assess how pesticides affect freshwater systems by applying the conceptual framework of density – and trait-mediated indirect effects from the field of basic ecology. Relyea and Hoverman’s research included studies of natural habitats after contamination, surveys of natural habitats with experimental contamination, field experiments using enclosures, and mesocosm studies.  It has been well-known that pesticides are found in aquatic communities, but the question is whether or not the pesticides affect the species that inhabit those communities.  They demonstrate the utility of this framework for understanding the conditions under which pesticides affect species interactions, communities, and ecosystems and conduct this experiment by considering the effects of lethal and sublethal pesticide concentrations in systems containing multiple species and apply an emerging framework of food web theory to allow a more general conceptualization of how pesticides affect aquatic communities. “Assessing the Ecology in Ecotoxicology” accurately demonstrates, through the interaction of species, the harmful, final result of pesticide loss in groundwater.