Bioindicators and How They Aid Scientists in Preserving Environments Kira Seckler 11/18/15
Bioindicators are everywhere, from the pond in your backyard to a tree in a forest, and they all help us by doing the same thing, changing. What are bioindicators and in what ways are they useful in environmental preservation? Bioindicators help us and scientists maintain a thriving environment by giving us signs about the environment that the bioindicator is in. Bioindicators help us in many ways, but bioindicators face many problems too. Bioindicators are affected by the factors in their environment …show more content…
Metals, among other contaminant, accumulate in biological organisms including bioindicators and biomonitors, causing metal concentrations to amplify through food webs. (Lee) Information such as this tells us that too much metal contaminants are in the water and we need to do something about it if we can. Stress on the bioindicator causes many different problems to the species as a whole or even as an individual, Environmental stress on an organism, can cause individual effects for growth, reproduction, and it can affect the food quantity and quality in the habitat of that organism. (Lee)These factors make the bioindicator have problems which we can see and try to figure out if it is caused by us or by natural factors such as, weather, invasive species of predators, or increases or decreases in water, or food by natural causes. Climate changes, radiation, food supply, diseases, parasites, and competition between the species can affect the bioindicator. (Markert, 2003) There are so many things a bioindicator such as fish, lichens, ants, or any creature that gives us an idea of its habitats health, that it has to go through in order for its species to …show more content…
Just like when miners used to take canaries down in mines to sense if the air was safe (Holt) we use other bioindicators to help us see if an environment is safe and thriving. We rely upon the sensitivity of some bioindicators and other organisms to function as early warning signals of changes in a habitat. (Holt) In turn we should have to try to fix any problems, that (if we have caused any) to fix the habitat and rid it of harmful objects or substances that would harm us or the habitat. Bioindicators, help identify mechanisms and causes of toxicity (Lee) in a habitat, but can also show or, indicate contaminant exposure, and provides early indications of an environment's recovery. (Lee) By learning what changed the acts or population of the bioindicator, we could try to fix the problem. Bioindicators also provide information on the harmful effects of contaminants at biochemical, molecular and cellular levels and can act for scientists as an early warning for larger scale effects (“Bioindicators - AIMS”). This way we know before something we possibly could not help with or fix,
Bioindicators are everywhere, from the pond in your backyard to a tree in a forest, and they all help us by doing the same thing, changing. What are bioindicators and in what ways are they useful in environmental preservation? Bioindicators help us and scientists maintain a thriving environment by giving us signs about the environment that the bioindicator is in. Bioindicators help us in many ways, but bioindicators face many problems too. Bioindicators are affected by the factors in their environment …show more content…
Metals, among other contaminant, accumulate in biological organisms including bioindicators and biomonitors, causing metal concentrations to amplify through food webs. (Lee) Information such as this tells us that too much metal contaminants are in the water and we need to do something about it if we can. Stress on the bioindicator causes many different problems to the species as a whole or even as an individual, Environmental stress on an organism, can cause individual effects for growth, reproduction, and it can affect the food quantity and quality in the habitat of that organism. (Lee)These factors make the bioindicator have problems which we can see and try to figure out if it is caused by us or by natural factors such as, weather, invasive species of predators, or increases or decreases in water, or food by natural causes. Climate changes, radiation, food supply, diseases, parasites, and competition between the species can affect the bioindicator. (Markert, 2003) There are so many things a bioindicator such as fish, lichens, ants, or any creature that gives us an idea of its habitats health, that it has to go through in order for its species to …show more content…
Just like when miners used to take canaries down in mines to sense if the air was safe (Holt) we use other bioindicators to help us see if an environment is safe and thriving. We rely upon the sensitivity of some bioindicators and other organisms to function as early warning signals of changes in a habitat. (Holt) In turn we should have to try to fix any problems, that (if we have caused any) to fix the habitat and rid it of harmful objects or substances that would harm us or the habitat. Bioindicators, help identify mechanisms and causes of toxicity (Lee) in a habitat, but can also show or, indicate contaminant exposure, and provides early indications of an environment's recovery. (Lee) By learning what changed the acts or population of the bioindicator, we could try to fix the problem. Bioindicators also provide information on the harmful effects of contaminants at biochemical, molecular and cellular levels and can act for scientists as an early warning for larger scale effects (“Bioindicators - AIMS”). This way we know before something we possibly could not help with or fix,