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Environmental Bio-indicators

Vo Van Minh PhD.,

Danang University of Education

What are the local people?

Why do you know about that? What are indicators?

Bio-indicators

Let see the following images

and information

Indicator Organism Tells the Health of

Rivers

• http://eng.me.go.kr/content.do?method=moveContent&menuCode=res_kid_wat_abo_organism

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Earthworms as Bioindicators

• http://www.uclan.ac.uk/schools/built_natural_environment/research/earthworm_research/research/earthworms_as_bioindicators.php

Plant-indicator for mangroves

Algae indicate for water pollution What?

Botany-geography Lichenes indicate for air pollution

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Macroinvertebrate indicate for water

pollutionPlant indicate for nutrien deficiency

Bioindicators of atmospheric pollution

& Toxicity symtonsBivalves indicate for bioaccumulators

Why? What is a Bioindicator?

Bioindicators include biological processes,

species, or communities and are used toassess the quality of the environment and

how it changes over time.

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Bioindicator & Biomonitoring

Isn't it Called Biomonitoring?

• In common usage, the terms "biomonitoring"

and "bioindication" are interchangeable, but

in the scientific community these terms have

more specific meanings

There are three main functions of

bioindicators:

1. To monitor the environment

(i.e., physical and/or chemical changes),

2. To monitor ecological processes, or

3. To monitor biodiversity.

Why Are Bioindicators Better

Than Traditional Methods?

• Scientists have traditionally conducted

chemical assays and directly measured

physical parameters of the environment (e.g.,

ambient temperature, salinity, nutrients,

pollutants, available light and gas levels),

whereas the use of bioindicators uses the

biota to assess the cumulative impacts of

both chemical pollutants and habitat

alterations over time

VVM2

Slide 24

VVM2 Tác động tích lũyVo Van Minh, 9/9/2011

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The use of bioindicators is fundamentally different from classic

measures of environmental quality and offers numerous

advantages.

• First, bioindicators add a temporal component

corresponding to the life span or residence

time of an organism in a particular system,

allowing the integration of current, past, or

future environmental conditions. In contrast,

many chemical and physical measurements

only characterize conditions at the time of

sampling, increasing the probability of missing

sporadic pulses of pollutants.

• Another benefit of the use of bioindicators is

their ability to indicate indirect biotic effects

of pollutants when many physical or chemical

measurements cannot.

• Lastly, given the thousands of substances and

factors to monitor, scientists now understand

that the biota itself is the best predictor of

how ecosystems respond to disturbance or

the presence of a stressor.

What Makes a Good

Bioindicator?

What Makes a Good Bioindicator?

• Considering the 1.7 million species that currentlydocumented on Earth, how do we chose just one as abioindicator?

• The answer is simple: No single species can adequatelyindicate every type of disturbance or stress in allenvironments.

• Depending upon the specific environment, the speciespresent, and local disturbances, appropriate bioindicatorspecies or groups of species need to be selected.

• Ecologists have established a broad set of criteria thatspecies must exhibit to be considered good bioindicators

Benefits and Disadvantages of

Bioindicators

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Benefits

• The numerous benefits of bioindicators have

spurred legislative mandates for their use in

countries around the world and their inclusion

in several international accords.

Function as early-warning signals

Disadvantages?

Homework & exam

This lecture is referenced from the

document:

• http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/li

brary/bioindicators-using-organisms-to-

measure-environmental-impacts-16821310