Abstract
Biomarkers have been used increasingly to investigate the adverse impacts of pollutants on different aspects of the structure and function of the ecosystem. In this manuscript, a conceptual overview and general evaluation of the present biomarker research in the rapidly expanding area of ecotoxicological research is presented. In general, ecotoxicological studies can be divided into 2 basic approaches, largely due to the historical backgrounds and the intrinsic differences in the merging sub-disciplines, namely the“toxicological”versus the“ecological”oriented approach. At present, this discrepancy largely hampers the application of biomarker techniques in environmental risk assessments. In order to use these effect- and/or exposure-based biomarker criteria in an applied ecological context, quantitative relationships between the sub-organismal effects and effects occurring at higher levels of biological organization need to be developed. The potential of certain energy-based biomarker criteria to bridge the existing gap between both types of research is illustrated for the waterflea Daphnia magna. It is demonstrated how short term (in vitro) digestive enzyme-based effects as well as Cellular Energy Allocation measurements allow estimation of threshold concentrations which are indicative of adverse effects at the (supra) organismal level.
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De Coen, W.M., Janssen, C.R., Giesy, J.P. (2000). Biomarker applications in ecotoxicology: bridging the gap between toxicology and ecology. In: Persoone, G., Janssen, C., De Coen, W. (eds) New Microbiotests for Routine Toxicity Screening and Biomonitoring. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4289-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4289-6_2
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