1st Edition

Ecological Biomarkers Indicators of Ecotoxicological Effects

    464 Pages 70 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Does a change, which affects a few biological macro-molecules, some cells, or a few individuals within a population, have any ecological significance that would allow the prediction of deleterious effects at higher levels of biological organization, namely the population, community, and ultimately the ecosystem? With contributions from experts in the field, Ecological Biomarkers: Indicators of Ecotoxicological Effects explores how biomarkers can be used to predict effects farther down the chain. It presents a synthesis of the state of the art in the methodology of biomarkers and its contribution to ecological risk assessment.

    This book describes the core biomarkers currently used in environmental research concerned with biological monitoring, biomarkers which correspond to the defences developed by living organisms in response to contaminants in their environment, and biomarkers that reveal biological damage resulting from contaminant stressors. It examines the efficacy of lysosomal biomarkers, immunotoxicity effects, behavioral disturbances, energy metabolism impairments, endocrine disruption measures, and genotoxicity as all indicative of probable toxic effects at higher biological levels.

    It is time to revisit the biological responses most ecologically relevant in the diagnosis of the health status of an aquatic environment well before it becomes unmanageable. Biomarkers provide a real possibility of delivering an easily measured marker at a simple level of biological organization that is predictably linked to a potentially ecologically significant effect at higher levels of biological organization. The text explores the latest knowledge and thinking on how to use biomarkers as tools for the assessment of environmental health and management.

    Introduction, Claude Amiard-Triquet and Jean-Claude Amiard
    History of Biomarkers, Michèle Roméo and Laure Giambérini
    Biomarkers of Defense, Tolerance, and Ecological Consequences, Claude Amiard-Triquet, Carole Cossu-Leguille, and Catherine Mouneyrac
    Molecular and Histocytological Biomarkers, Jean-Claude Amiard and Claude Amiard-Triquet
    Linking Lysosomal Biomarkers and Ecotoxicological Effects at Higher Biological Levels, Michael N. Moore, Aldo G. Viarengo, Paul J. Somerfield, and Susanna Sforzini
    Linking Immunotoxicity and Ecotoxicological Effects at Higher Biological Levels, Pauline Brousseau, Stéphane Pillet, Héloïse Frouin, Michel Auffret, François Gagné, and Michel Fournier
    Sentinel Species, Brigitte Berthet
    Impairments of Endocrine Functions: Causes and Consequences, Jean-Claude Amiard, Arnaud Chaumot, Mickaël Couderc, Jeanne Garric, Olivier Geffard, and Benoît Xuereb
    Impairments of Endocrine Functions: Case Studies, Matthew J. Gubbins, Martial Huet, Reinier M. Mann, and Christophe Minier
    Behavioral Ecotoxicology, Claude Amiard-Triquet and Jean-Claude Amiard
    Origin of Energy Metabolism Impairments, Odile Dedourge-Geffard, Frédéric Palais, Alain Geffard, and Claude Amiard-Triquet
    Consequences of Energy Metabolism Impairments, Catherine Mouneyrac, Cyril Durou, and Alexandre Péry
    Biomarkers of Genotoxicity for In Situ Studies at Individual and Population Levels, Paule Vasseur, Franck Atienzar, Carole Cossu-Leguille, François Rodius, and Sébastien Lemière
    Evolutionary Toxicology and Transcriptomic Approaches, Justine Marchand, Françoise Denis, and Jean Laroche
    Biomarkers Currently Used in Environmental Monitoring, Tracy K. Collier, Michael W.L. Chiang, Doris W.T. Au, and Philip S. Rainbow
    Conclusions: Biomarkers in Environmental Risk Assessment, Claude Amiard-Triquet, Jean-Claude Amiard, and Philip S. Rainbow
    Index

    Biography

    Dr. Claude Amiard-Triquet is a Research Director in the CNRS (French National Research Center) based at the University of Nantes, France. Dr. Amiard-Triquet's research interests include metal ecotoxicology, biomarkers, and emerging contaminants (endocrine disruptors, nanoparticles).

    Professor Jean-Claude Amiard is a Research Director in the CNRS (French National Research Center) based at the University of Nantes, France. His research activities have focused on the fate and effects of trace metals in marine and estuarine ecosystems, the tolerance of organisms to chronic exposure to contaminants, and the application of biomarkers to the assessment of ecotoxicity of emerging contaminants.

    Professor Philip Rainbow is the Head of the Department of Zoology at the Natural History Museum, London, leading a staff of more than 100 working scientists. His recent research has focused on the factors affecting the bioavailability of trace metals to aquatic invertebrates from both solution and the diet, and the biodynamic modeling of trace metal bioaccumulation.

    "In addition to the many case studies, figures, and tabulated applications of biomarkers, the insightful discussions concerning the strengths and limitations of each category of biomarkers provide a realistic assessment of the state of the science … this volume should be on the bookshelves of anyone seriously interested in biomarkers."
    Steven M. Bartell in The Quarterly Review of Biology, December 2014