Unit 3: Monitoring Pollution - Biotic Indices
- Created by: rosieevie
- Created on: 06-05-15 20:06
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- Monitoring Pollution and Biotic Indicies
- Lichen (acid rain) or aquatic invertebrates used (Trent Biotic Index)
- Sensitive to pollution
- Presence or absence, abundance, size, state of health and appearance can all be indicators
- Must be normally abundant and present and evenly distributed
- Easy to find and identify and or/catch
- Range of species with different tolerances used
- Standardised factors
- Rain/wind exposure (lichens)
- Temperature of water (aquatic)
- Surface of attachment (lichens)
- Large sample area size
- Range of sample locations - different pollution levels, distances from source
- Biotic index - monitoring pollutant amounts using living organisms
- Advantages
- Monitors current and past pollution
- Help to trace pollution source
- Very sensitive
- Low levels of pollutants that bioaccumulate may be detectable in high concs in organisms
- No need for expensive equipment
- Disadvantages
- Time consuming to sort samples
- Difficult to interpret results for non-biologists
- Difficult to identify if inexperienced
- Biotic scale/index can be calculated
- Choosing Sample Sites
- Random or systematic sampling used?
- Use areas with different pollution concentration
- Large number of sample sites
- Use old sites where biotic indicies has had time to colonise
- Similar other abiotic factors e.g. rainfall, wind, light
- Same substrate (for lichens) as pH may affect distribution
- Lichen (acid rain) or aquatic invertebrates used (Trent Biotic Index)
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