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Biomonitoring and invertebrate taxonomy

  • Biological Assessment of Impact
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Abstract

Biological monitoring requires identification of the fauna of the environment under study. Three prevalent methods have been used to alleviate the need for universal species-level identification: selection of indicator taxa, taxonomic reduction, and allocation to functional groups. Each method is discussed in relation to species recognition. It is suggested that the validity of all attempts to reduce data should be tested in the light of phylogenetic hypotheses.

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Cranston, P.S. Biomonitoring and invertebrate taxonomy. Environ Monit Assess 14, 265–273 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00677921

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