Terrestrial biomarkers

Currie BR, Johns RB, An organic geochemical analysis of terrestrial biomarkers in a transect of the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon, Australian J Marine and Freshwater Research 40 275-284, 1989. 

Frankincense, also called olibanum, is a natural oleo gum resin that exudes from incisions in the bark of Boswellia trees [46, 47]. Diterpenes like incensole or isoincensole and their oxide or acetate derivatives (see Figure 10.3) are characteristic biomarkers of olibanum [48]. Although diterpenoid hydrocarbons possessing the cembrane skeleton have been isolated from a variety of terrestrial and marine organisms, their occurrence and particularly that of cembrenes A and C (see Figure 10.3) is supplementary proof of the presence of olibanum in a sample. Optimisation of the SPME conditions was done with the aim of trapping these low volatile diterpenes. 

Numerous and disparate copper criteria are proposed for protecting the health of agricultural crops, aquatic life, terrestrial invertebrates, poultry, laboratory white rats, and humans (Table 3.8) however, no copper criteria are now available for protection of avian and mammalian wildlife, and this needs to be rectified. Several of the proposed criteria do not adequately protect sensitive species of plants and animals and need to be reexamined. Other research areas that merit additional effort include biomarkers of early copper stress copper interactions with interrelated trace elements in cases of deficiency and excess copper status effects on disease resistance, cancer, mutagenicity, and birth defects mechanisms of copper tolerance or acclimatization and chemical speciation of copper, including measurement of flux rates of ionic copper from metallic copper. 

Data for PCP and terrestrial wildlife are incomplete and — in view of the large interspecies variations in sensitivity — need to be collected. Research is needed on reproductive effects in animals following inhalation exposure to PCP additional acute and intermediate toxicity testing chronic duration exposure studies on cancer induction, genotoxicity, and immunotoxicity and the development of alternate biomarkers of PCP exposure and antidotes (WHO 1987 USPHS 1994). Until the results of these studies become available, it seems reasonable to apply to wildlife the same levels recommended for human health protection. 

The best biomarkers for marine sources of organic matter have high percent labile/marine content and the best biomarkers for terrestrial organic matter have low percentages. Marine compounds tend to be more labile (reactive) than terrestrial organic matter. 

Lipids are important biomarkers because they carry a strong carbon-number predominance that is inherited from their biosynthesis (e.g. buildup from acetate), and their homolog distribution can reflect biogenic origin (i.e. marine vs. terrestrial origin) They are generally derived from... 

Mono-, sesqui-, and some diterpenoids are found in marine and terrestrial flora. They are, therefore, not always unambiguous tracers for higher plant sources. However, diterpenoids with the abietane and pimarane (Fig. 1), and less common phyllocladane and kaurane, skeletons are predominant constituents in resins and supportive tissue of coniferous vegetation (Coniferae), which evolved in the late Paleozoic (200—300 million years ago). Diterpenoid biomarkers have been characterized in... 

Simoneit BRT, Atmospheric transport of terrestrial organic matter to the sea, in Volkman JK (ed.). The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, Vol. 2, Part N, Marine Organic Matter Biomarkers, Isotopes and DNA, Springer Verlag, Berlin, 165-208, 2006. 

Table 9.5 Fatty acid (FA) biomarkers for bacterial, algal, animals, and terrestrial sources in aquatic systems.

Sterols and their respective derivatives have proven to be important biomarkers that can be used to estimate algal and terrestrial contributions as well as dia-genetic proxies. These compounds are a group of lipids (typically between C26 and C30) that are resistant to saponification and can be classified as triterpenes. 

Yunker, M.B., Macdonald, R.W., Veltkamp, D.J., and Cretney, W.J. (1995) Terrestrial and marine biomarkers in a seasonally ice-covered Arctic estuary—integration of multivariate and biomarker approaches. Mar. Chem. 49, 1-50. 

Kammenga J, Dallinger R, Donker MH, Kohler HR, Simonsen V, Triebskom R, Weeks JM. 2000. Biomarkers in terrestrial invertebrates potential and limitations for ecotoxicologi-cal soil risk assessment. Rev Environ Contam Toxicol 164 93-147. 

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