Abstract
Establishing causal relationships between sources of environmental stressors and aquatic ecosystem health is difficult because of the many biotic and abiotic factors which can influence or modify responses of biological systems to stress, the orders of magnitude involved in extrapolation over both spatial and temporal scales, and compensatory mechanisms such as density-dependent responses that operate in populations. To address the problem of establishing causality between stressors and effects on aquatic systems, a diagnostic approach, based on exposure-response profiles for various anthropogenic activities, was developed to help identify sources of stress responsible for effects on aquatic systems at ecological significant levels of biological organization (individual, population, community). To generate these exposure-effects profiles, biomarkers of exposure were plotted against bioindicators of corresponding effects for several major anthropogenic activities including petrochemical, pulp and paper, domestic sewage, mining operations, land-development activities, and agricultural activities. Biomarkers of exposure to environmental stressors varied depending on the type of anthropogenic activity involved. Bioindicator effects, however, including histopathological lesions, bioenergetic status, individual growth, reproductive impairment, and community-level responses, were similar among many of the major anthropogenic activities. This approach is valuable to help identify and diagnose sources of stressors in environments impacted by multiple stressors. By identifying the types and sources of environmental stressors, aquatic ecosystems can be more effectively protected and managed to maintain acceptable levels of environmental quality and ecosystem fitness.
Managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp. Under contract DE-AC05-960R22464 with the US Department of Energy
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Adams SM, Greeley MS, Ham KD, LeHew RF, Saylor CF (1996) Downstream gradients in bioindicator responses: point source contaminant effects on fish health. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 53: 2177–2187
Adams SM (1990) Status and use of bioindicators for evaluating effects of chronic stress on fish. Am Fish Soc Symp 8: 1–8
Adams SM, Greeley MS, Ryon MG (1999) Evaluating effects of stressors on fish health at multiple levels of biological organization: extrapolating from lower to higher levels. Hum Ecol Risk Assess (in press)
Alabaster JS, Lloyd R (1982) Finely divided solids. In: Alabaser JS, Lloyd R (eds) Water quality criteria for freshwater fish, 2nd edn. Butterworth, London, UK, pp 1–20
Andersson T, Forlin L, Hardig J, Larsson A (1988) Physiological disturbances in fish living in coastal water polluted with bleached kraft pulp mill effluents. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 45: 1525–1536
Axelsson B, Norrgren L (1991) Parasite frequency and liver anomalies in threespined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus ( L.), after long-term exposure to pulp mill effluents in marine mesocosms. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 21: 505–513
Bass ML, Berry CR, Heath AG (1977) Histopathological effects of intermittent chlorine exposure on bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) and rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). Water Res 11: 731–735
Baumann PC, Mac MJ, Smith SB, Harshbarger JC (1991) Tumor frequencies in walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) and brown bullhead (Ictalurus nebulosus) and sediment contaminants in tributaries of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 48: 1804–1810
Bergstedt LC, Bergersen EP (1997) Health and movements of fish in response to sedi- ment sluicing in the Wind River, Wyoming. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 54: 312–319
Bradley BP (1993) Are the stress proteins indicators of exposure or effect? Marine Environ Res 35: 85–88
Cairns J (1981) Biological monitoring, part IV. Future needs. Water Res. 15: 941–952
Coulliard CM, Hodson PV, Castonguay M (1997) Correlations between pathological changes and chemical contamination in american eels, Anguilla rostrata, from the St. Lawrence River. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 54: 1916–1927
Coutant CC (1997) Thermal pollution in power plants. In: Encyclopedia of chemical technology, 4th edn, vol 23. John Wiley, New York, pp 963–984
Depledge M (1989) The rational basis for detection of the early effects of marine pollutants using physiological indicators. Ambio 18: 301–392
DiGiulio RT (1992) Indices of oxidative stress as biomarkers for environmental contamination. pgs. 15–31. In: Mayes MA, Barron MG (eds) Aquatic toxicology and risk assessment. American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, ASTM 1124, vol 14
Doyotte A, Cossu C, Jacquin M, Babut M, Vasseur P (1997) Antioxidant enzymes, glutathione and lipid peroxidation as relevant biomarkers of experimental or field exposure in the gills and the digestive gland of the freshwater bivalve Unio tumidus. Aquat Toxicol 39: 93–110
Ericson G, Lindesjoo E, Balk L (1998) DNA adducts and histopathological lesions in perch (Perca fluviatilis) and northern pike (Esox lucius) along a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon gradient on the Swedish coastline of the Baltic Sea. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55: 815–824
Farag AM, Stansbury MA, Hogstrand C, MacConnell E, Bergman HL (1995) The physiological impairment of free-ranging brown trout exposed to metals in the Clark Fork River, Montana. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 52: 2038–2050
Huggett RJ, Kimerle RA, Mehrle PM, Bergman HL (eds) (1992) Biomarkers. Lewis, Boca Raton, Florida
Jimenez BD, Stegeman JJ (1990) Detoxification enzymes as indicators of environmental stress on fish. Am Fish Soc Symp 8: 67–79
Kaur K, Dhawan A (1996) Effect of carbaryl on tissue composition, maturation, and breeding potential of Cirrhina mrigala ( Ham. ). Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 57: 480–486
Lagadic L, Caquet T, Ramade F (1994) The role of biomarkers in environmental assessment (5). Invertebrate populations and communities. Ecotoxicology 3: 193–208
Larsson A, Haux C, Sjobeck M (1985) Fish physiology and metal pollution: Results and experiences from laboratory and field studies. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 9: 250–281
Mallatt J (1985) Fish gill structural changes induced by toxicants and other irritants: a statistical review. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 42: 630–648
McCarty LS, Munkittrick KR (1996) Environmental biomarkers in aquatic toxico- logy:fiction, fantasy, or functional? Human and Ecol. Risk Assess. 2: 268–274
Mitz SV, Giesy JP (1985) Sewage effluent biomonitoring. I. Survival, growth, and histopathological effects in channel catfish. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 10: 22–39
Moles A, Norcross BL (1998) Effects of oil-laden sediments on growth and health of juvenile flatfishes. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55: 605–610
Newcombe CP, MacDonald DD (1991) Effects of suspended sediments on aquatic ecosystems. N Am J Fish Manage 11: 72–82
NRCC (National Research Council of Canada) (1985) The role of biochemical indicators in the assessment of ecosystem health: their development and validation. Publ NRCC 24371. National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa
Osborne LL, Iredale DR, Wrona FJ, Davies RW (1981) Effects of chlorinated sewage effluents on fish in the Sheep River, Alberta. Trans Amer Fish Soc 110: 536–540
Owens JW (1991) The hazard assessment of pulp and paper effluents in the aquatic environment: a review. Environ Toxicol Chem 10: 1511–1540
Power M (1997) Assessing the effects of environmental stressors on fish populations. Aquat Toxicol 39: 151–169
Pyza E, Mak P, Kramarz P, Laskowski R (1997) Heat shock proteins (HSP70) as biomarkers in ecotoxicological studies. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 38: 244–251
Sanchez JC, Fossi MC, Focardi S (1997) Serum “B” esterases as a nondestructive biomarker for monitoring the exposure of reptiles to organophosphorus insecticides. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 37: 45–52
Sandstrom 0 (1996) In-situ assessments of the impact of pulp mill effluents on life-history variables in fish. In: Servos ME, Munkittrick KR, Carey JH, van der Kraak GJ (eds) Environmental fate and effects of pulp and paper mill effluents. St Lucie Press, Delray Beach, Florida, pp 449–457
Schlenk D, Perkins EJ, Hamilton G, Zhang YS, Layher W (1996) Correlation of hepatic biomarkers with whole animal and population-community metrics. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 53: 2299–2309
Shugart LR, Bickham J, Jackim G, McMahon G, Ridley W, Stein J, Steinert S (1992) DNA alterations. In: Huggett RJ, Kimerle RA, Mehrle PM, Bergman HL (eds) Biomarkers. Lewis, Boca Raton, Florida, pp 125–153
Soimasuo R, Jokinen I, Kukkonen J, Petanen T, Ristola T, Oikari A (1995) Biomarker responses along a pollution gradient: effects of pulp and paper mill effluents on caged whitefish. Aquat Toxicol 31: 329–345
Spies RB, Stegeman JJ, Hinton DE, Woodin B, Smolowitz R, Okihiro M, Shea D (1996) Biomarkers of hydrocarbon exposure and sublethal effects in embiotocid fishes from a natural petroleum seep in the Santa Barbara Channel. Aquat Toxicol 34: 195–219
Stegeman JJ, Brouwer M, DiGiulio RT, Forlin L, Fowler BA, Sanders BM, Van Veld PA (1992) Molecular responses to environmental contamination: enzyme and protein synthesis as indicators of contaminant exposure and effect. In: Huggett RJ, Kimerle RA, Mehrle PM, Bergman HL (eds) Biomarkers. Lewis, Boca Raton, Florida, pp 235–335
Theodorakis CW, D’Surney SJ, Bickham JW, Lyne TB, Bradley BP, Hawkins WE, Farkas WL, McCarthy JF, Shugart LR (1992) Sequential expression of biomarkers in bluegill sunfish exposed to contaminated sediment. Ecotoxicology 1: 4573
Vetemaa M, Forlin L, Sandstrom O (1997) Chemical industry effluent impacts on reproduction and biochemistry in a North Sea population of viviparous blenny (Zoarces viviparus). J Aquat Ecosyst Stress Recovery 6: 33–41
Wester PW, Vos JG (1994) Toxicological pathology in laboratory fish: an evaluation with two species and various environmental contaminants. Ecotoxicology 2: 21–44
Wolfe DA (1996) Insights on the utility of biomarkers or environmental impact assessment and monitoring. Human Ecol Risk Assess 2: 245–250
Woodward DF, Farag AM, Bergman HL, DeLonay AJ, Little EE, Smith CE, Barrows FT (1995) Metal-contaminated benthic invertebrates in the Clark Fork River, Montana: effects on age-0 brown trout and rainbow trout. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 52: 1994–2004
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Adams, S.M. (2000). Assessing Sources of Stress to Aquatic Ecosystems Using Integrated Biomarkers. In: Balázs, E., et al. Biological Resource Management Connecting Science and Policy. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04033-1_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04033-1_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-04035-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04033-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive