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A report

On

Biological Indicators

By
Nikita Sabale BE17F05F041

Government College of Engineering, Aurangabad


CERTIFICATE

Certified that the work contained in the project titled “Biological

Indicators”, by Nikita Gorakh Sabale, has been carried out under my

supervision and that this work has not been submitted elsewhere for a

degree.

Computer Science and Engineering


Government College of Engineering, Aurangabad.
Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. What is Bio-Indicators?
3. Plants as Bio-Indicators
4. Animals as Bio-Indicators
5. Microbes as Bio-Indicators
6. Conclusion
7. References
Introduction
Bioindicators are organisms, such as lichens, birds and bacteria, that are used to
monitor the health of the environment. The organisms and organism associations are
monitored for changes that may indicate a problem within their ecosystem. The
changes can be chemical, physiological or behavioral. Bioindicators are relevant for
Ecological health. Ecological health can be viewed in terms of ecosystems, whereby
structural and functional characteristics are maintained. Ecological health can be
expanded to include many aspects of human health and well-being. Each organism
within an ecosystem has the ability to report on the health of its environment.
Bio indicators are used to: detect changes in the natural environment, monitor for the
presence of pollution and its effect on the ecosystem in which the organism lives,
monitor the progress of environmental cleanup and test substances, like drinking water,
for the presence of contaminants.
Specific physiological and behavioral changes in bioindicators are used to detect
changes in environmental health. The specific changes differ from organism to
organism. The use of organisms as bioindicators encompasses many areas of science.
Wildlife conservation genetics is an example of how traditional approaches can be
combined with emerging biotechnologies to improve accuracy, and to collect
information not available through conventional methods. Wildlife conservation
genetics combines traditional monitoring of wildlife populations, like raccoons, with
the scientific discipline of genetics, to gain information about the health of ecosystems.
Several biotechology – based methods use microorganisms to test environmental health.
Unlike traditional methods, biotechnology - based methods do not rely on observation
alone but set out to create specific reactions that indicate the presence of a specific
pollutant or an unwanted microorganism. In this way they are similar to traditional
chemical analysis of environmental samples.
In traditional bioassays, a bioindicator organism or organisms association are
introduced to environmental samples, such as soil or water, and researchers observe any
changes that occur as a result of exposure. These methods are based primarily on
observation to detect changes. Bioindicators can be a measure, an index of measures,
or a model that characterizes an ecosystem or one of its critical components. They are
also a method of monitoring or detecting the negative impacts that industrial activity
has on the environment. This information helps develop strategies that will prevent or
lower such effects and make industry more sustainable. The role of bioindicators in sustainable
development will help ensure that industry leaves the smallest footprint
possible on the environment.
What is Bio- indicators?

A bioindicator is any species (an indicator species) or group of species


whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of
the environment. For example, copepods and other small water
crustaceans that are present in many water bodies can be monitored for
changes (biochemical, physiological, or behavioral) that may indicate a
problem within their ecosystem. Bioindicators can tell us about the
cumulative effects of different pollutants in the ecosystem and about
how long a problem may have been present, which physical and
chemical testing cannot.

A biological monitor or bio monitor is an organism that provides


quantitative information on the quality of the environment around it.
Therefore, a good bio monitor will indicate the presence of the pollutant
and also attempt to provide additional information about the amount and
intensity of the exposure.

A biological indicator is also the name given to a process for assessing


the sterility of an environment through the use of resistant
microorganism strains (eg. Bacillus or Geobacillus). Biological
indicators can be described as the introduction of a highly resistant
microorganisms to a given environment before sterilization, tests are
conducted to measure the effectiveness of the sterilization processes. As
biological indicators use highly resistant microorganisms, you can be
assured that any sterilization process that renders them inactive will have
also killed off more common, weaker pathogens.
A bioindicator is an organism or biological response that reveals the presence of
the pollutants by the occurrence of typical symptoms or measurable responses and
is, therefore, more qualitative. These organisms (or communities of organisms)
deliver information on alterations in the environment or the quantity of
environmental pollutants by changing in one of the following ways:
physiologically, chemically or behaviorally. The information can be deduced
through the study of:

1. their content of certain elements or compounds


2. their morphological or cellular structure
3. metabolic biochemical processes
4. behavior
5. population structure(s)

The importance and relevance of bio monitors, rather than man-made equipment, is
justified by the observation that the best indicator of the status of a species or
system is itself. Bioindicators can reveal indirect biotic effects of pollutants when
many physical or chemical measurements cannot. Through bioindicators, scientists
need to observe only the single indicating species to check on the environment
rather than monitor the whole community.

The use of a biomonitor is described as biological monitoring and is the use of the
properties of an organism to obtain information on certain aspects of the biosphere.
Bio monitoring of air pollutants can be passive or active. Passive methods observe
plants growing naturally within the area of interest. Active methods detect the
presence of air pollutants by placing test plants of known response and genotype
into the study area.

Bio accumulative indicators are frequently regarded as bio monitors. Depending on


the organism selected and their use, there are several types of bio-indicators
Plants as Bio-Indicators

The presence or absence of certain plant or other vegetative life in an


ecosystem can provide important clues about the health of the
environment: environmental preservation. There are several types of
plant bio monitors, including mosses, lichens, tree bark, bark pockets,
tree rings, and leaves. Fungi too may be useful as indicators.

Lichens are organisms comprising both fungi and algae. They are found
on rocks and tree trunks, and they respond to environmental changes in
forests, including changes in forest structure – conservation biology, air
quality, and climate. The disappearance of lichens in a forest may
indicate environmental stresses, such as high levels of sulfur dioxide,
sulfur-based pollutants, and nitrogen oxides. The composition and total
biomass of algal species in aquatic systems serve as an important metric
for organic water pollution and nutrient loading such as nitrogen and
phosphorus. There are genetically engineered organisms that can
respond to toxicity levels in the environment; e.g., a type of genetically
engineered grass that grows a different colour if there are toxins in the
soil.
Animals as Bio-Indicators

Changes in animal populations, whether increases or decreases, can


indicate pollution. For example, if pollution causes depletion of a plant,
animal species that depend on that plant will experience population
decline. Conversely, overpopulation may be opportunistic growth of a
species in response to loss of other species in an ecosystem. On the other
hand, stress-induced sub-lethal effects can me manifested in animal
physiology, morphology, and behaviour of individuals long before
responses are expressed and observed at the population level. Such sub-
lethal responses can be very useful as "early warning signals" to predict
how population will further respond.

Pollution and other stress agents can be monitored by measuring any of


several variables in animals: the concentration of toxins in animal
tissues; the rate at which deformities arise in animal populations;
behaviour in the field or in the laboratory; and by assessing changes in
individual physiology.

Frogs and toads as bioindicators

Amphibians, particularly anurans which consist of frogs and toads, are


increasingly used as bioindicators of contaminant accumulation in
pollution studies. Anurans absorb toxic chemicals through their skin and
larval gill membranes and are sensitive to alterations in their
environment. They have a poor ability to detoxify pesticides that are
absorbed, inhaled, or ingested by eating contaminated food. This allows
residues, especially of organochlorine pesticides, to accumulate in their
systems. They also have permeable skin that can easily absorb toxic
chemicals, making them a model organism for assessing the effects of
environmental factors that may cause the declines of the amphibian
population. These factors allow them to be used as bioindicator
organisms to follow changes in their habitats and in ecotoxicological
studies due to humans increasing demands on the environment.
Knowledge and control of environmental agents is essential for
sustaining the health of ecosystems. Anurans are increasingly utilized as
bioindicator organisms in pollution studies such as studying the effects
of agricultural pesticides on the environment. Environmental assessment
to study the environment in which they live in is performed by analyzing
their abundance in the area as well as assessing their locomotive ability
and any abnormal morphological changes, which are deformities and
abnormalities in development. Decline of anurans and malformations
could also suggest increased exposure to ultra-violet light and parasites.

Pond breeding anurans are especially sensitive to pollution because of


their complex life cycles, which could consist of terrestrial and aquatic
living. During the embryonic development of them, morphological and
behavioral alterations are the effects most frequently cited in connection
with chemical exposures. Effects of exposure may result in shorter body
length, lower body mass and malformations of limbs or other organs.
The slow development, late morphological change, and small
metamorph size result in increased risk of mortality and exposure to
predation.
Microbes as Bio-Indicators

Chemical pollutants

Microorganisms can be used as indicators of aquatic or terrestrial


ecosystem health. Found in large quantities, microorganisms are easier
to sample than other organisms. Some microorganisms will produce new
proteins, called stress proteins, when exposed to contaminants such as
cadmium and benzene. These stress proteins can be used as an early
warning system to detect changes in levels of pollution.

In oil and gas exploration

Microbial Prospecting for oil and gas (MPOG) is often used to identify
prospective areas for oil and gas occurrences. In many cases oil and gas
is known to seep toward the surface as a hydrocarbon reservoir will
usually leak or have leaked towards the surface through buoyancy forces
overcoming sealing pressures. These hydrocarbons can alter the
chemical and microbial occurrences found in the near surface soils or
can be picked up directly. Techniques used for MPOG include DNA
analysis, simple bug counts after culturing a soil sample in a
hydrocarbon based medium or by looking at the consumption of
hydrocarbon gases in a culture cell.

Microalgae in water quality

Microalgae have gained attention in the recent years due to several


reasons because of their greater sensitivity to pollutants than many other
organisms. In addition, they occur abundantly in nature, they are an
essential component in very many food webs, they are easy to culture
and to use in assays and there are few if any ethical issues involved in
their use.
Gravitactic mechanism of the microalgae Euglena gracilis (A) in the
absence and (B) in the presence of pollutants.

Euglena gracilis is a motile freshwater photosynthetic flagellate.


Although Euglena is rather tolerant to acidity, it responds rapidly and
sensitively to environmental stresses such as heavy metals or inorganic
and organic compounds. Typical responses are the inhibition of
movement and the change of orientation parameters. Moreover, this
organism is very easy to handle and grow, making it a very useful tool
for eco-toxicological assessments. One very useful particularity of this
organism is the gravitactic orientation, which is very sensitive to
pollutants. The gravireceptors are impaired by pollutants such as heavy
metals and organic or inorganic compounds. Therefore, the presence of
such substances is associated with random movement of the cells in the
water column. For short term tests, gravitactic orientation of E. gracilis
is very sensitive. Other species such as Paramecium biaurelia (see
Paramecium aurelia) also use gravitactic orientation.

Automatic bioassay is possible, using the flagellate Euglena gracilis in a


device which measures their motility at different dilutions of the
possibly polluted water sample, to determine the EC50(the concentration
of sample which affects 50 percent of organisms) and the G-value
(lowest dilution factor at which no-significant toxic affect can be
measured).
Macroinvertebrates

Macroinvertebrates are useful and convenient indicators of the


ecological health of water bodies[25] and terrestrial ecosystems.[26][27]
They are almost always present, and are easy to sample and identify.
The sensitivity of the range of macroinvertebrates found will enable an
objective judgement of the ecological condition to be made. Tolerance
values are commonly used to assess water pollution and environmental
degradation, such as human activities (e.g. selective logging and
wildfires) in tropical forests.

In Europe, a remote online biomonitoring system was designed in 2006.


It is based on bivalve molluscs and the exchange of real time data
between a remote intelligent device in the field (able to work for more
than 1 year without in-situ human intervention) and a data centre
designed to capture, process and distribute on the web information
derived from the data. The technique relates bivalve behaviour,
specifically shell gaping activity, to water quality changes. This
technology has been successfully used for the assessment of coastal
water quality in various countries (France, Spain, Norway, Russia,
Svalbard (Ny Alesund) and New Caledonia).

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)


published Rapid Bioassessment Protocols, in 1999, based on measuring
macroinvertebrates, as well as periphyton and fish for assessment of
water quality.

In South Africa, the Southern African Scoring System (SASS) method is


based on benthic macroinvertebrates, and is used for the assessment of
water quality in Southern African rivers. The SASS aquatic
biomonitoring tool has been refined over the past 30 years and is now on
the fifth version (SASS5) in accordance with the ISO/IEC 17025
protocol. The SASS5 method is used by the South African Department
of Water Affairs as a standard method for River Health Assessment,
which feeds the national River Health Programme and the national
Rivers Database.
The imposex phenomenon in the dog conch species of sea snail leads to
the abnormal development of a penis in females, but does not cause
sterility. Because of this, the species has been suggested as a good
indicator of pollution with organic man-made tin compounds in
Malaysian ports.

Conclusion

Bioindicators can be a measure, an index of measures, or a


model that characterizes an ecosystem or one of its critical
components. They are also a method of monitoring or
detecting the negative impacts that industrial activity has on
the environment. This information helps develop strategies that
will prevent or lower such effects and make industry more
sustainable. The role of bioindicators in sustainable
development will help ensure that industry leaves the smallest
footprint possible on the environment.

References:
www.google.com
www.wikipedia.org

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