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Complexity of bioindicator selection for ecological, human, and cultural health: Chinook salmon and red knot as case studies

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 187, Article number: 102 (2015) Cite this article

Abstract

There is considerable interest in developing bioindicators of ecological health that are also useful indicators for human health. Yet, human health assessment usually encompasses physical/chemical exposures and not cultural well-being. In this paper, we propose that bioindicators can be selected for all three purposes. We use Chinook or king salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and red knot (Calidris canutus rufa, a sandpiper) as examples of indicators that can be used to assess human, ecological, and cultural health. Even so, selecting endpoints or metrics for each indicator species is complex and is explored in this paper. We suggest that there are several endpoint types to examine for a given species, including physical environment, environmental stressors, habitat, life history, demography, population counts, and cultural/societal aspects. Usually cultural endpoints are economic indicators (e.g., number of days fished, number of hunting licenses), rather than the importance of a fishing culture. Development of cultural/societal endpoints must include the perceptions of local communities, cultural groups, and tribal nations, as well as governmental and regulatory communities (although not usually so defined, the latter have cultures as well). Endpoint selection in this category is difficult because the underlying issues need to be identified and used to develop endpoints that tribes and stakeholders themselves see as reasonable surrogates of the qualities they value. We describe several endpoints for salmon and knots that can be used for ecological, human, and cultural/societal health.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the many people who we have discussed these topics with us or who have helped in the research, including L. Bliss, A. Bunn, E. DeVito, C. Duncan, C. Frank, M. Gilbertson, C. Jeitner, D. Jenkins, C. Minton, T. Pittfield, H. Sitters, and other field volunteers, as well as regulators and other governmental officials, tribal members associated with Hanford, and especially the Aleut people in Alaska who greatly influenced our views. We thank the many organizations and individuals who contributed throughout this research. This project was mainly funded by the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (Department of Energy, DE-FC01-86EW07053), with additional funding from NIEHS (P30ES005022), US Fish and Wildlife Foundation, NJ Department of Environmental Protection (Endangered and Nongame Program), Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, Endangered and Nongame Species Program of the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, and Rutgers University. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not represent the funding agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Joanna Burger

  2. Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Joanna Burger & Michael Gochfeld

  3. Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Joanna Burger, Michael Gochfeld, Charles Powers, Kevin Brown, James Clarke & David Kosson

  4. Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Michael Gochfeld

  5. Conserve Wildlife, 109 Market Lane, Greenwich, NJ, 08323, USA

    Lawrence Niles

  6. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and CRESP, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA

    Charles Powers, Kevin Brown, James Clarke & David Kosson

  7. NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Endangered and Nongame Species Program Trenton, New Jersey, USA

    Amanda Dey

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Burger, J., Gochfeld, M., Niles, L. et al. Complexity of bioindicator selection for ecological, human, and cultural health: Chinook salmon and red knot as case studies. Environ Monit Assess 187, 102 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-4233-4

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Keywords

  • Indicators
  • Human health
  • Ecological health
  • Endpoints
  • Cultural health
  • Subsistence