Ecosystem monitoring: goals and necessity, role of bioindication

Abstract

Introduction. Eco-toxicant levels of environmental pollution and the time of action determine their degree of impact on ecosystems, including human health. The main causes of the occurrence of an increased level of pollution by ecotoxicants in an area (ecosystem): natural - precipitation and precipitation by precipitation from rocks, degassing of the earth's crust, its tectonic movements, volcanic and earthquake emissions, etc .; anthropogenic - industrial enterprises' emissions and effluents of various industries (metallurgical, chemical, electrical, etc.) and mining (mines, mines, etc.); products of incomplete combustion of organic fuel (coal, oil, gas, peat, shale, etc.), automotive fuel; pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture; processed products and those formed during long-term storage of industrial and household wastes; chemical household appliances, hospital waste, veterinary facilities, poultry and livestock farms containing bio-accumulative medicines; urban sewage drains and so on.

The purpose of the study is to provide an analysis of the significance environmental monitoring methods for the environment, for biota, including human health. Determine the role of bioindication methods in obtaining direct information on the action of ecotoxicants on the vital functions of living organisms.

Materials and methods of research. In all cases, the scientific and practical activities of man used methods of observation - the methods of knowledge which are based on a relatively long systematic and purposeful perception of phenomena and objects of the real world. Information on the long-term observation of the natural state of the environment is needed in everyday life of people to alert about possible dangerous phenomena in it. But changes in the state of the environment occur also under the influence of processes in the biosphere, which are related to human activities (human-induced changes).

Along with the physical and chemical methods of environmental control, as noted, the methods of bioindication, especially biologically significant anthropogenic loads, which are based on the reaction of living organisms and their communities on the action of ecotoxicants, have become widespread. The analysis of these methods with the definition of expediency and advantages before physical and chemical methods is carried out.

Results of the research and their discussion. Environmental quality monitoring – the system of regular observation, collection, processing, transfer, storage and analysis of information on the state of the environment, forecasting its changes and developing scientifically substantiated recommendations for making decisions on preventing negative changes in the state of the environment and compliance with environmental safety requirements. Its basis is the quantitative determination of indicators that adequately reflect the real situation, as well as provide an opportunity to create current and long-term forecasts.

Ecotoxicological monitoring is an integral part of the integrated system of ecological monitoring at all its levels and directions. Its main objects are the atmosphere, soil, water, biota, as well as forestry and agricultural products, animal feeds and food products for the population.

Determination by chemical methods of both composition and concentrations of ecotoxicants available in the ecosystem for proper monitoring is necessary, but it is also necessary to have information about the state of the biota (on the diversity of species, the number of their representatives, reproducibility, etc.), as well as indicators of the life of organisms, especially those most are striking. That is precisely what determines the mechanisms of toxic effects of ecotoxicants (including the joint action of several), which contributes to the development of measures to ensure the safety of not only the biota of ecosystems, but also human health.

The reflection of the consequences of ecotoxicant contamination of the ecosystems leads to biomonitoring, that include the methods of biological indication, that have already become widely used in environmental monitoring.

Bioindication methods can determine presence in the environment of one or another ecotoxicant in the state of the most sensitive to it organisms, the direction of action of these ecotoxicants or their complexes, and the use of biological analytical methods (physiological, biochemical, genetic, etc.), as well as mechanisms of action of ecotoxicants on organisms.

Conclusions. So, it is possible to qualitatively and quantitatively estimate the biological effects of the action of ecotoxicants in ecosystems by bioindicating methods for the use of appropriate live test objects. Their main advantages over physical and chemical methods: the long-term presence of bioindicators (test objects) in the ecosystem, which makes it possible to carry out an integrated assessment of the action of ecotoxicants (including chronic low-impact); allow to record the result of the total action of many ecotoxicants; detection of the speed of changes occurring in the ecosystem for the effects of negative factors; contribute to the normalization of allowable loads on ecosystems, which differ in their resistance to the affecting factor due to, for example, different geographical zones, etc.; allow for appropriate correlations regarding the possible effects of the studied ecotoxicants on human health and much more, including for economic reasons, since these methods are less costly than physic-chemical methods.