Bioindicators of pollution

Chassard-Bouchaud C. 1996. Analytical microscopy and environment. Current developments using bioindicators of pollution by stable and radioactive elements. Cell Mol Biol 42(3) 361-383. 

Deryabina, T.G. 1996. Wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) as a bioindicator of pollution by heavy metals. Russian Jour. Ecology 27 452-453. 

Rice, C.D., Kergosien, D.H., and Adams, M.S., Innate immune function as a bioindicator of pollution stress in fish. Ecotox. Environ. Health Safety, 33,186, 1996. 

Curtis, L.A., A decade-long perspective on the bioindicator of pollution imposex in Ilyanassa obsoleta on Cape Henlopen, Delaware Bay, Mar. Environ. Res., 30, 291, 1994. 

Burger J. 1993. Metals in avian feathers bioindicators of environmental pollution. Rev Environ Toxicol 5 203-311. 

Significant bioaccumulation of butyltins in higher trophic organisms and their appropriateness as bioindicators of aquatic organotin pollution was reported [281,282,303-305]. 

Czyz, A. Jasiecki, J. Bogdan, A. Szpilewska, H. Wegrzyn, G. Genetically modified Vibrio harveyi strains as potential bioindicators of mutagenic pollution of marine environments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2000, 66, 599-605. 

Klumpp, A., Hintemann, T., Santana Lima, J. and Kandeler, E. (2003) Bioindication of air pollution effects near a copper smelter in Brazil using mango trees and soil microbiological properties. Environmental Pollution, 126(3), 313-21. 

Ueno, D., Inoue, S., Takahashi, S., Ikeda, K., Tanaka, H., Subramanian, A.N., Fillmann, G., Nakata, H., Lam, P.K.S., Zheng, J., Muchtar, M., Prudente, M., Tanabe, S., 2003a. Global pollution monitoring of butyltin compounds using skipjack tuna as a bioindicator. Environ. Pollut. 127, 1-12. 

Dion M, Loranger S, Kennedy G, et al. 1993. Evaluation of black spruce (picea mariana) as a bioindicator of aluminum contamination. Water Air Soil Pollut 71 29-41. 

Nickel TT assessment with 12 species of freshwater ciliates to determine which could become, based on observed sensitivity, a good bioindicator of waters polluted by heavy metals. P (Madoni, 2000)... 

Marcovecchio, J.E. 2004. The use of Micropogonias fumieri and Mugil liza as bioindicators of heavy metals pollution in La Plata river estuary, Argentina. Sci. Total Environ. 323 219-226. 

Therefore, toxicity tests, or in other words bioassays, can supply information on the total load of an investigated sample in a diverse (in terms of type and quantity) mixture of pollutants, which allows for the possibility of their interactions.8-12 Bioassays are based on the use of particularly sensitive species (bioindicators), which are characterized by their quick reaction to changes in their environment. This results from their relatively low ability to maintain a stable state of equilibrium, that is, from their narrow range of tolerance to specific toxic factors. Such organisms show a special ability to accumulate pollutants.13 Hence, they can work as so-called Biological Early Warning... 

Use has also been made of the metal content of crop plants in the assessment of contaminated soils. Kabata-Pendias et al. (1993) suggest that legumes are promising as bioindicators of metal pollution since they have in general a relatively higher tolerance to and uptake of metal than monocotyledons. Kovacs et al. (1993) have... 

Krill is a small planktonic crustacean primarily living in the Southern Ocean and its total biomass is estimated to be at least 500 million tons (around 500,000 billion individuals). It feeds on phytoplankton and is one of the most important species in the Antarctic food chain. In fact, krill is the basic food for whales, seals, cephalo-pods, penguins and many other seabirds and is also used for direct human consumption (20-24). Moreover, krill seems to be a promising bioindicator of environmental pollution by trace elements and organic compounds. All these considerations called for the production of a CRM for trace elements based on this matrix (25). 

M. E. Conti and G. Cecchetti, Biological Monitoring Lichens as Bioindicators of Air Pollution Assessment A review, Environ. Pollut. 114(3), 471-92 (2001). 

Kovalchuk I et al., Transgenic plants are sensitive bioindicators of nuclear pollution caused by the Chernobyl accident, Nat. Biotechnol., 16, 1054, 1998. 

These green screens must be designed before the building of the road, they must be planned with resistant and rustic shrubs and trees, which will filter the air and act as efficient sinks for dust and heavy metals particles. Some of these species may serve as bioindicators of air or soil pollution. 

The chief objective of biomonitoring is to permit statements about pollution and changes in biodiversity on various spatial and temporal scales. The site dependency of bioindicators/biomonitors is often affected by different biotopes which are characterized by different population structures and climatic, soil, and food conditions. The latter can be delimited fairly easily by sampling the bioindicator from various locations at the same time. For this purpose, Wagner (1992) developed a system (Table 12.2) for fitting the sampling network to the quality of pollution control to be expected from the selected bioindicators (biomonitors) in use. 

Linde AR, Sanchez-Gaian S Valles-Mota JP and GarcIa-Vazquez E (2001) Metallothionein as bioindicator of freshwater pollution European ed and brown trout. Ecotoxicol Environ Safety 49 60-63. 

In an additional study, Freitas (1995) analyzed the comparative accumulation of Cr, Fe, Co, Zn, Se, Sb and Hg in two vascular plants, Cistus salvifolius and Inula viscosa and in the epiphytic lichen Parmelia sulcata in an industrial region occupied by a thermal coal-fired power station, a chemical plant and an oil refinery. Of the three organisms, the lichen P. sulcata was found to be the most effective bioaccumulator, as the above-mentioned elements accumulated in large amounts in the lichen. Thus, P. sulcata was recommended as a reliable bioindicator of air pollution. 

Nimis, P.L., Castello, M., Perotti, M., 1993. Lichens as bioindicators of heavy metal pollution a case study at La Spezia (N Italy). In Markert, B. (Ed.), Plants as Biomonitors, Indicators for Heavy Metals in the Terrestrial Environment. VCH, Weinheim, pp. 265-284. 

An additional study which used the lichen Ramalina ecklonii as a bioindicator of atmospheric pollution in Cordoba (Levin and Pignata, 1995) analyzed the content of S, chlorophylls, phaeophytins, soluble proteins and oxidation products measured as conjugated dienes in the lichen. This study, carried out in an urban polluted site, to evaluate the lichen as a bioindicator of atmospheric pollution, detected a significant degradation of chlorophyll and relative high S contents. 

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