- Biomonitoring
Biomonitoring is the
science of inferring theecological condition of an area by examining the organisms that live there. Although biomonitoring can occur in any ecosystem, it is most often used to assesswater quality of rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands.Biomonitoring typically takes two approaches:
* "Bioassays", where test organisms are exposed to an environment to see if mutations or deaths occur. Typical organisms used in bioassays are fish, water fleas (
Daphnia ), and frogs.* "Community assessments", where an entire community of organisms is sampled, to see what types of taxa remain. In aquatic ecosystems, these assessments often focus on invertebrates, algae, macrophytes (aquatic plants), fish, or amphibians. Rarely, other large vertebrates (reptiles, birds, and mammals) are considered as well.
Aquatic invertebrates have the longest history of use in biomonitoring programs. In typical unpolluted temperate streams of Europe and North America, certain insect taxa predominate. Mayflies (
Ephemeroptera ), caddisflies (Trichoptera ), and stoneflies (Plecoptera ) are the most common insects in these undisturbed streams. In rivers disturbed by urbanization, agriculture, forestry, and other perturbations, flies (Diptera ), and especially midges (familyChironomidae ) predominateSources:
Rosenberg, D.M. and V.H. Resh ( eds.) 1993. Freshwater biomonitoring and benthic macroinvertebrates. Chapman and Hall, New York. 488 p.
Biomonitoring and
Body Burden StudiesBiomonitoring is a scientific technique used to sample blood, urine, breast milk and other tissue to assess human exposure to natural and synthetic chemicals.
Articles:
*California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill (SB 1379) on September 29, 2006 creating the U.S.'s first statewide biomonitoring program. [http://www.breastcancerfund.org/california Governor signs SB1379]
*Oakland Tribune's Douglas Fischer wrote a 3 part series on chemical pollutants and the biomonitoring process [http://www.insidebayarea.com/bodyburden/ www.insidebayarea.com/bodyburden/]
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