Ecological indicators and support with local examples
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The document discusses ecological indicators, highlighting their importance in monitoring environmental health and signaling changes in ecosystems. It categorizes indicators into physiochemical and biological types, providing examples of organisms that serve as indicators of pollution or environmental conditions. Case studies illustrate the impact of human activity, such as the COVID-19 lockdown, on water quality, showcasing the practical applications of these indicators in environmental management.
Ecological indicators and support with local examples
- 1. Ecological Indicators and Support with Local Examples SUBMITTED BY: Smrutisikha Mohanty Roll no. 200691 1st Semester SUBMITTED TO: Dr. Manoj Kumar Assistant Professor Department of Environmental Studies
- 2. CONTENTS Introduction Types Physiochemical Indicators Bio-indicators Case Studies Summery References
- 3. • Indicators provide warning for the environmental changes hence, an important management tool. • As I belong to a biodiversity rich area, it drives my interest towards the ecology, especially several indicators due to their quick responses. • It can be used to monitor the environmental health. WHY INTERESTED
- 4. INTRODUCTION • An indicator is a sign or signal that relays a complex message, potentially from numerous sources, in a simplified and useful manner.(Wicks et al., 2010) • Ecological indicators are a sub-set of environmental indicators. • Any organism or group of organisms indicative of a particular environment or set of environmental conditions. • For example, lichens may be used as indicators of air pollution and fossil assemblages as indicators of past environments. Crinoid Fossil Assemblage Source: Internet
- 5. BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS PHYSIO-CHEMICAL INDICATORS TYPES OF ECOLOGICAL INDICATORSES DISSOLVED OXYGEN TEMPERATURE pH CONDUCTIVITY TURBIDITY MICROBIAL SYSTEM PLANT SYSTEM ANIMAL SYSTEM
- 6. DISSOLVED OXYGEN Spawnig Growth • Measure of the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water. • Fluctuates seasonally & even within 24hr period. • Temperature dependent. • Oxygen levels are lowest just before sunrise and highest sometime in mid day. • Cold water can hold more DO than warm water. • Some species require high DO such as trout and stoneflies. Source: Internet Stressful for fish Too low Abundant fish
- 7. TEMPERATURE • Important indicator • Plays key role in climate change • Decreases with increase in depth • High temperature low DO • Impacts water chemistry • Species having an optimum water temperature • With increase in temperature compounds become more toxic
- 8. pH • Negative logarithm of the molar concentration of hydrogen ion. • Determines solubility and biological availability of chemicals in water. • Measures the amount of free hydrogen ion in water. • High acidity or alkalinity deteriorates water quality for both aquatic and recreational purposes. Source: Internet
- 9. CONDUCTIVITY • The ability of a substance to conduct an electric current. • Used as a quick way to locate potential water quality problems. • Increased by inorganic dissolved solids. • Decreases by organic compounds. • Constant so a change in conductivity may indicate an impact to groundwater. Other physio-chemical parameters are hardness, BOD, COD, TDS.
- 10. TURBIDITY • Measure of clarity of water. • Measurement of suspended and dissolved matter in water. • More particulate matter in water, the higher the turbidity. • If caused by suspended sediment, it can be an indicator of erosion. • Shallow groundwater typically more turbid than deep groundwater. Source: Internet
- 11. BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS • Direct measures of the health of the fauna and flora in the waterway. • Chlorophyll-a as a measure of phytoplankton population density. • Different bio-indicators are sensitive to different types of changes: Increase or decrease in abundance Presence or absence Change in behaviour Change physiologically or chemically
- 12. MICROBIAL SYSTEM • The presence of some microorganisms is well correlated with particular type of pollution and it serves as standard indicator of pollution. e.g. E.coli • Bioluminescent bacteria used to test water for environmental toxins. Source : The Indian Express, 2020 A beach in Chennai witnesses bioluminescence
- 13. DIFFERENT PLANTS AS ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS INDICATORS INDICATES Lichens Air pollution Chloritic flakes of pine needle Ozone damage Eichhornia Sewage and heavy metal pollution Equisetum species Presence of gold in the soil Amaranthus, chenopodium and polygonum Overgrazing Algal bloom Water pollution Lichens chlorotic mottling of pine needle Eichhornia crassipes Source: Internet
- 14. Source: Internet
- 15. ANIMAL INDICATORS • Frogs are considered accurate indicators of environmental stress and the health of biosphere as a whole. • Earthworm density and biomass are strongly influence by contamination. • Therefore the earth worm is used as bioindicator to determine acute toxicity. • Different types Beetle species found in a field – indicator of biodiversity.
- 17. Butterfly Diversity in Paralakhemundi (Thangjam et al.,2018) • Investigation on species diversity and abundance of butterfly. • Carried out in and around, Centurian University of Technology and Management, Paralakhemundi campus Odisha. • Sampling sites selected are forest ecosystem, agro-ecosystem and horticultural ecosystem. • A total of 45 species of butterfly were recorded during the study from January-2017 to June-2018. • Forest ecosystem is found to contain the highest no. of species due to the presence of sufficient host plants and favorable climatic conditions for the growth and development of butterflies. Case study 1
- 18. Cleaning the river Damodar: impact of COVID-19 lockdown on water quality (Chakraborty et al., 2021) • Damodar is originated from khamarpat hill of Jharkhand state, India. • Present study is confined between Panchet dam and Durgapur barrage. • Water samples were collected from 11 discharge sites of industrial effluents in pre-lockdown and lockdown period (December 2019) and again during lockdown period (July 2020) for the evaluation of changes of water quality . • All values of these physical parameters were higher than their standard limit of permissible according to WHO (2011) guidelines in pre-lockdown session and lower in lockdown session. Case study 2
- 19. INDICATORS PRE-LOCKDOWN PERIOD LOCKDOWN PERIOD pH (unit less) 7.04-8.21 6.12-7.72 TDS (mg/l) 665.6-806.4 480- 563.2 EC (µS/cm) 1040-1260 750-880 OBSERVATION Source: Chakraborty et al, 2021 Spatial variation of river water pollution index (a) Pre-lockdown phase and (b) During lockdown phase
- 20. SUMMARY • Use to assess the health of an ecosystem and its resources. • Non-scientists can use these data to make management decisions. • Use to gain information about ecosystems and our impact on those ecosystems. • A collective term for stressor indicators, habitat response, and exposure. • The species may be difficult or time-consuming to survey.
- 21. REFERENCES • Thangjam, R., Kadam, V., Hemochandra, L., D Ramalaxmi, V., Krishna, G., & Patnaik, L. (2018). Studies on the diversity and abundance of butterfly in and around CUTM, Paralakhemundi campus, Odisha (India). Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 6, 2484-2491. • Chakraborty, B., Roy, S., Bera, A., Adhikary, P. P., Bera, B., Sengupta, D., ... & Shit, P. K. (2021)Cleaning the river Damodar (India): impact of COVID-19 lockdown on water quality and future rejuvenation strategies. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 1-15. • Wicks, E. C., Longstaff, B. J., Fertig, B., & Dennison, W. C. (2010). Ecological indicators–Assessing ecosystem health using metrics. Integrating and Applying Science: A practical handbook for effective coastal ecosystem assessment, 61-77. • https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/mumbai-beach-blue-tide- bioluminescence-explained-7070203/