Environmental guidelines regarding the environmental impact of land application of byproducts have historically focused on human health issues (i.e., drinking water, food quality). Limited guidance regarding the land application of byproducts on ecological receptors is included in some guidelines (i.e., U.S. EPA Part 503 guidelines for land application of biosolids). Recently, several countries have developed ecological risk frameworks for contaminants in soil systems. Guidance from these ecological frameworks has been limited to risk assessment of highly contaminated sites and not applicable to land application of biosolids. However, some frameworks do not discriminate between highly contaminated sites requiring remedial action and land where small amounts of contaminants have been introduced into the soil from beneficial land application of non hazardous byproducts (i.e., biosolids, manures). Several ecological paradigms currently in use or development in the U.S., E.U., Canada, and other countries will be presented. Present and future application of guidelines derived from these paradigms will be presented.