LECTURE 13:

BIOINDICATORS OF
POLLUTION

WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY-PHILIPPINES
College of Arts and Sciences

DIVINE GRACE S. BATENGA, MSc.

Subject Instructor
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

▰ a) Characterize and examine the different types

and biological criteria of Bioindicators.
▰ b) Demonstrate and elucidate how Bioindicators
are being use in assessing the quality of the
environment.

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BIOINDICATORS

▰ Living organisms that respond in an especially clear way

to a change environment
▰ Indicate or monitor the health of the environment
▰ A good bioindicator will indicate the presence of the
pollutant and also attempt to provide additional
information about the amount and intensity of the
exposure
HOW ARE THEY USED?

▰ Different bioindicators are sensitive to different types of

changes
▰ Scientists observe changes in the populations of animal
and plants bioindicators to see if an environment is healthy
▰ Biological response of bioindicator reveals the presence of
the pollutants by the occurrence of typical symptoms or
measurable responses, and is therefore more qualitative
 BASED ON IUBS (International Union
of Biological Sciences)
BIOINDICATORS ARE GROUPED
INTO:

▰ Microbial System
▰ Plant System
▰ Animal System

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 MICROBIAL SYSTEM

▰ Microorganisms are diverse group of

organisms found in large quantities and
are easier to detect and sample.
▰ The presence of some microorganisms
is well correlated with particular type of
pollution and it serves as standard
indicator of pollution.

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 Some bioindicators
indicating status of aquatic
systems
MICRO ORGANISM/BACTERIA STATUS OF AQUATIC SYSTEM

Escherichia coli Faecal origin

Salmonella typhi Faecal origin

Streptococcus faecalis Faecal origin

Kliebsella Faecal origin

Clostridium perfringens Faecal origin

Vibrio cholerae Faecal origin

Spirillium volutans pores Industrial chemicals and toxic chemical

wastes
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 Bioluminescent bacteria as
bioindicators

▰ Bioluminescent bacteria: these are used

to test water for environmental toxins
▰ If there are toxins present in the water,
the cellular metabolism of bacteria is
inhibited or disrupted
▰ This affects quality or light emitted by
bacteria
Vibrio fischeri

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 Bioluminescent bacteria as
bioindicators

▰ Bioluminescence occurs through a

chemical reaction that produces light
energy within an organism's body.
▰ For a reaction to occur, a species must
contain luciferin, a molecule that, when
it reacts with oxygen, produces light.

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 PLANT SYSTEM

▰ The presence or absence of certain plant or other

vegetative life in an ecosystem can provide
important clues about the health of the
environment
▰ They can be from both higher and lower classes of
Plantae
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 Lower Plants
LICHENS

▰ Lichens are algae and fungi living symbiotically

(they have to live together to survive)
▰ Lichens can live in extreme conditions, but they
hate pollution
▰ Sensitive indicators of air pollution particularly
sulfur dioxide
▰ In places where no lichens are growing, it is
often a sign that the air is heavily polluted with
sulfur dioxide
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 Lower Plants
ALGAE

▰ Algae are a significant component of

biological monitoring programs for
assessing water quality.
▰ They are eligible to water quality
assessment because of their nutrient
requirements, rapid reproduction rate and
very short life cycle.
▰ Phytoplanktons
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 Lower Plants
DIATOMS

▰ Diatoms are algae that live in houses made of glass.

▰ They are the only organism on the planet with cell
walls composed of transparent, opaline silica.
▰ These unicellular, microscopic algae, capable of
reacting to industrial and agricultural organic
pollution, are being used as biological indicators.
▰ Changes in diatom community, decrease in plankton
algae and aquatic hydrophyte indicated increased
water acidity
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 Higher Plants
Caesalpinia
pulcherrima

▰ Evaluated as the bioindicators of heavy metals

such as the Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu), Cadmium
(Cd), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Chromium (Cr)
and Nickel (Ni)

Cynodon dactylon

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 Higher Plants WATER HYACINTH
(Eichornia crassipes)

▰ Abundance of Eichornia indicates

sewage and heavy metal pollution
of water
▰ Equisetum spp. Indicate the
presence of gold in the soil
HORSETAIL
(Equisetum spp.)

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 Higher Plants WATER HYACINTHS IN
PASIG RIVER

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 Higher Plants Amaranthus

▰ Annual weeds and short lived

perennials like Amaranthus,
Chenopodium and Polygonum etc. grow
better in overgrazed areas
Chenopodium

▰ They are the indicators of overgrazing

Polygonum
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 ANIMAL SYSTEM

▰ An increase or decrease in an animal population may

indicate damage to ecosystem caused by pollution
▰ Other mechanisms of animal indication include
monitoring the concentration of toxins in animal
tissues, or monitoring the rate at which deformities
arise in animal population
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 ANIMAL SYSTEM
EARTHWORM

▰ Earthworm population in
contaminated sites reflects the degree
of soil pollution as a whole
▰ Earthworms act as an early warning
system in monitoring changes in soil
pollution
▰ Earthworms is used as bioindicator to
determine acute toxicity
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 ANIMAL SYSTEM
FROGS

▰ Frogs are considered accurate

indicators of environmental stress and
the health of biosphere as a whole
▰ They are the first to be affected by
degradation of the environment.
▰ Their dwindling numbers may be a
warning to us that our planet is
becoming unlivable.
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 ANIMAL SYSTEM

TOAD
FROGS

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 ANIMAL SYSTEM
FROGS

▰ Over the last several decades,

amphibians around the world have
been disappearing.
▰ Destruction of habitat is certainly a
problem; pollution is also probably
connected to the decline.

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 ANIMAL SYSTEM
FROGS affected by
chytrid fungus

▰ A recently-discovered skin fungus may

also be responsible.
▰ This fungus is believed to slowly
suffocate frogs by attacking the skin
through which they breathe.
▰ This type of fungus doesn't usually
attack frogs, a fact which leads some
scientists to think that the frogs are
being weakened by other environmental
23 stresses.
 ANIMAL SYSTEM
FISHES

▰ Fish have been widely documented as

useful indicators of environmental water
quality because of their differential
sensitivity to pollution.

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 ANIMAL SYSTEM

▰ Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation

of substances, such as pesticides, or other
chemicals in an organism.
▰ Biomagnification, also known as
bioamplification or biological magnification, is
the increasing concentration of a substance,
such as a toxic chemical, in the tissues of
tolerant organisms at successively higher
levels in a food chain.
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 ANIMAL SYSTEM
BIOMAGNIFICATION

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 ANIMAL SYSTEM MACROINVERTEBRATES

Rat tailed maggot

Live in sewage polluted
water
▰ Macrocinvertebrates are often used
as bioindicators because they are
very sensitive to pollution, excess
nutrients, increased turbidity, Flat worm
Live in slightly polluted
chlorine etc. water
▰ You can determine if the water is
polluted by collecting a sample of
Fresh water shrimp
suspected water and analyze the type Live only in fresh
water
27 of animals that are in the sample.
 ANIMAL SYSTEM
FIREFLIES

▰ The researchers are seeking data on

fireflies worldwide, to see whether their
populations are increasing or
decreasing.
▰ Fireflies are a bioindicator, a species
ecologists monitor to help gauge how
healthy an ecosystem is.
▰ If fireflies disappear, it might be a sign
28 their habitat is in trouble.
 Why Are Bioindicators
Better Than Traditional
Methods?
▰ Bioindicators have the ability to indicate indirect biotic effects
of pollutants when many physical or chemical measurements
cannot.
▰ Through bioindicators scientist need to observe only the
single indicating species to check on the environment, they
don’t have to monitor the whole community.

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 END….

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 References:

▰ Akre B, Brainard J, Goose H, Rogers-

Estable, and Stewart R (2011).
Introduction to Environmental Science,
FlexBook Platform, USA.

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