Bioindicators

= __ ** What are Bioindicators? ** __   =   Bioindicators are animals, plants, or sometimes bacteria that indicate if something is wrong or different about an ecosystem. If something unnatural happens in an ecosystem, like a chemical spill, you could check to see if the population of an organism sensitive to the chemical went up or down. If a big change in that organism's population happened, like it went way up or way down, the chemical is in the ecosystem. If there was no big change in the organism's population, then it's most likely that the chemical spill didn't happen.(7) So when pollutants or something is present the organism may change its outward appearance, physical or biochemical functions or it could even die. =     __** What Are Some Examples of Bioindicators? **__     =

(7) Bioindicators can be plants, animals, or microorganisms for example if a certain toxin is present certain plants may not grow and if the pollutant causes the reduction of a food source organisms dependent on the food source may die, and also microorganisms can be bioindicators because some produce stress proteins if exposed to certain pollutants and by measuring the level of stress proteins you can get an idea of the level of the pollutant. (3) .A type of bioindicator is E. coli bacteria. If there are any of the bacteria in the water, the water is contaminated by human waste. More On E. Coli (1) An example of E.Coli

Another type of bioindicators that are used often to see if water is clean or polluted are invertebrates. Aquatic invertebrates, or invertebrates that live in water, are also known as bethic macroinvertebrates, or benthos. Benthic means bottom; macro means large (In this case it means you can see them without a microscope); and invertebrate means an organism without a backbone. Benthos make excellent bioindicators because: Some benthos can live only in clean water, but some can live in polluted water. Stonefly larvae can only live in clean water, and worms and leeches can live almost anywhere, but some types of stoneflies live in polluted water, and worms and leeches sometimes live in clean water.(4.)
 * They live in water for the majority of their lives.
 * They stay in areas where the water is good for them to live in.
 * They're easy to collect.
 * They are different in their ways to react to pollution.
 * They're easy to identify.
 * They usually live longer that a year.
 * They have limited mobility.

(4.) Hatching stonefly larvae.

(10) Another kind of bioindicator is lichen, a kind of algae. Lichen is used as a bioindicator for pollutants,climate change and habitat management. =**   __What Can They Show You?__    **= =** __How Can They Show You?__ **=
 * They can show that there is chlorine in the water.
 * They can show that there are pollutants in the water.
 * They can indicate that there is human waste in the water.(5)
 * There will be fewer of that species in the area
 * Less eggs will hatch in the area(6)

__ How Does It Relate To The Gray Area Mystery? __ In the Gray Area mystery, the seventh grade at Nagel Middle School are trying to find out what has killed 5,000 fish in the past 5 years. One of the possibilities was a water slide. It used chlorine in the water, and dumped the used water into a stream once a week. Its possible that the chlorine washed downstream to the bay, and killed fish. To prove that he was innocent, the owner of the slide had a chemist do tests of the water downstream from the waterslide tp see if there was any chlorine there. The chemist came up with no chlorine, but the test was done at the farthest time from when they dumped the water, giving it the most time to wash away with the current. More On Chlorine. A local student in a nearby city decided to do a biological test. He discovered that water fleas, or daphnia, can't live in water with chlorine, so he decided to test upstream and downstream from the waterslide. Upstream he found 16 water fleas in one sample. Sampling is a way to test the population of organisms' populations. Downstream he found only one water flea, proving that chlorine did wash into the bay and might be killing the fish. That is one way you can use bioindicators to test the health of a waterway.

(3)
Source: Wyman,Bruce,and L. Harold Stevenson. "bioindicator." The Facts On File dictionary of environmental science, Third Edition, New York: Facts On File, Inc.,2007. Science online. Facts on File, inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2,asp?ItemId=we40& SId=5&ipin=DEST0556&singlerecord=True

(1)
Maryland Department of the Environment (2.) Dierker, Nicole Inviormental Science Jornal Ohio, Cincinnati, 2008 1800 Washington Boulevard Baltimore, Maryland 21230 410.537.3000; 1.800.633.6101 

EPA Bioindicators. November 30th, 2007. Biological Indicators of Watershed Health. December 19, 2008<[[http://www.epa.gov/bioiweb1/html/indicator.html>(4) = =    = = ==**(5)**

Dierker, Nicole Enviormental Detective Jornal, Ohio, Cincinnati
(6)== Dierker, Nicole Enviormental Detective Jornal , Ohio , Cincinnati (7)Bioindicators.19 june 2008.science learning<[|http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/contexts/enviro_imprints_and_concepts/bioindicators(]

**(8)**
)Maryland Department of the Environment 1800 Washington Boulevard Baltimore, Maryland 21230 410.537.3000; 1.800.633.6101

(9)Types and characteristics of bioindicators.Bioindicators of aquatic ecosystem stress.<http://www.esd.ornl.gov/programs/bioindicators/types and characteristics.htm

(10)Lichenology.2008.Royal Botanic Garde Edinburgh.www.Rbge.org.uk/.../lichenology