A unique crustose lichen species was recently documented from various types of preserved forests across boreal and temperate Europe (Norway, Ukraine, the Czech Republic) and the Caucasus (Russia). It is formally described here as the new species Biatora amylacea. A phylogeny based on ITS and mtSSU sequences demonstrates that it belongs to an isolated group within the core of Biatora s. lat., together with the recently described B. radicicola. It is a distinctive taxon within the genus on account of its amyloid exciple, otherwise known only from members of the Biatora rufidula group. The new species is also characterized by amyloid thalline hyphae and the production of soredia with a blue-green pigment. This microlichen may serve as a bioindicator species of old-growth forests.

The world's biodiversity is in peril. The major threats to biodiversity globally are habitat change, overexploitation, climate change, invasive species and pollution. Not only do these stressors impact free-living organisms, but they affect parasitic ones as well. Herein, this perspective examines the potential consequences of these anthropogenic perturbations on helminth populations and communities, with emphasis on significant developments over the past decade. Furthermore, several case studies are examined in more detail for each of these threats to biodiversity. While effects are widespread and diverse, for the most part all these environmental stressors have negative effects on parasite populations and communities. Those parasites with complex life cycles that are trophically transmitted are often more at risk, although larval parasites with a wide host spectrum, and directly transmitted ectoparasites, appear less threatened and may even benefit. However, differential effects on hosts and parasites, on parasite life cycle stages and on host–parasite interactions made specific predictions difficult and context-dependent. Experimental laboratory and mesocosm studies on specific parasites that test effects on the different life cycle stages, hosts and host–parasite interactions, permitting the determination of net effects of an environmental stressor, yield insightful and sometimes counterintuitive results, although they remain a simplification of real-world complexity. Recent advances in the use of parasites as bioindicators of effects also are discussed.

Given the abundance, heterogeneity and ubiquity of parasitic organisms, understanding how they influence biodiversity, evolution, health and ecosystem functionality is crucial, especially currently when anthropogenic pressures are altering host–parasite balances. This review describes the features, roles and impacts of metazoan parasites of fish occurring in transitional waters (TW). These aquatic ecosystems are highly productive and widespread around the globe and represent most favourable theatres for parasitism given the availability of hosts (invertebrates, fishes and birds) and an increased probability of parasite transmission, especially of those having complex life cycles. Fascinating examples of how parasitism can influence different hierarchical levels of biological systems, from host individuals and populations to entire aquatic communities, through effects on food webs come from this kind of ecosystem. Edible fish of commercial value found in TW can harbour some parasite species, significantly reducing host health, marketability and food safety, with possible economic and public health consequences. Many TW are historically exploited by humans as sources of relevant ecosystem services, including fisheries and aquaculture, and they are highly vulnerable ecosystems. Alteration of TW can be revealed through the study of parasite communities, contributing, as bioindicators, for assessing environmental changes, health and restoration. Fish parasites can provide much information about TW, but this potential appears to be not fully exploited. More studies are necessary to quantify the ecological, economic and medical impacts fish parasites can have on these important ecosystems.

Termites are essential components of tropical ecosystems, in which they provide fundamental ecosystem services, such as decomposition of dead plant material, fostering of soil mineralization and provisioning of new microhabitats. We investigated the termite communities of four habitats in two protected areas in West Africa, which differ in management effectiveness: the strictly protected Lamto Reserve (LR) and the Marahoué National Park (MNP), which suffers from anthropogenic disturbance despite its protection status. We tested the effect of disturbance on species composition, richness and abundance as well as on functional (feeding type) composition. The effect of disturbance was clearly visible in the termite communities. Compared to the LR, the MNP had less termite species overall and in all habitats except the shrub savannah. Also the abundance of termites was generally reduced and a decrease of soil feeders recorded. The latter is well-known to be sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance in forests. Comparing our results with other studies, we were able to identify suitable bioindicators of ecosystem health for West-African savannahs. Furthermore, we discuss the potential consequences of anthropogenic disturbance on ecosystem services provided by termites.

Marine mammals are long-lived top predators with vagile lifestyles, which often inhabit remote environments. This is especially relevant in the oceanic waters around New Zealand and Australia where cetaceans and pinnipeds are considered as vulnerable and often endangered due to anthropogenic impacts on their habitat. Parasitism is ubiquitous in wildlife, and prevalence of parasitic infections as well as emerging diseases can be valuable bioindicators of the ecology and health of marine mammals. Collecting information about parasite diversity in marine mammals will provide a crucial baseline for assessing their impact on host and ecosystem ecology. New studies on marine mammals in New Zealand and Australian waters have recently added to our knowledge of parasite prevalence, life cycles and taxonomic relationships in the Australasian region, and justify a first host–parasite checklist encompassing all available data. The present checklist comprises 36 species of marine mammals, and 114 species of parasites (helminths, arthropods and protozoans). Mammal species occurring in New Zealand and Australian waters but not included in the checklist represent gaps in our knowledge. The checklist thus serves both as a guide for what information is lacking, as well as a practical resource for scientists working on the ecology and conservation of marine mammals.

Through the last millennium, Patagonia has been affected by changing climate conditions and successive volcanic eruptions. Lake Tonček is a high-altitude lake in the Southern Volcanic Zone in the northern Patagonian Andes. We documented the responses of the subfossil chironomid community to the effects of successive volcanic and different conditions in a sedimentary sequence from this lake comprising the last 900 years. The community composition and structure (abundance, diversity, and richness) and the development of morphological anomalies in the chironomid mouthparts were evaluated throughout the core. Both climatic conditions and volcanism affected the chironomid community differentially. The chironomid community changed following short-term climate change patterns, being affecting not only by temperature changes but also by variations in the regional precipitation regime. Decreases in abundance and diversity were only observed in coarse volcanic layers. In these samples, we recorded a high percentage of damaged chironomid mouthparts caused by mechanical wear, breakage or abrasion, possibly due to the increase of mineral particles. Our results represent important baseline data about the responses of chironomid communities to environmental disturbances in high-altitude lakes over long time frames.

We investigated the ecology and paleoecology of testate amoebae in peatlands of the Colombian páramo to assess the use of testate amoebae as paleoenvironmental indicators. Objectives were to (1) identify environmental controls on testate amoebae, (2) develop transfer functions for paleoenvironmental inference, and (3) examine testate amoebae in a Holocene peat core and compare our findings with other proxy records. Results from 96 modern samples indicate that testate amoebae are sensitive to pH and surface moisture, and cross-validation of transfer functions indicates potential for paleoenvironmental applications. Testate amoebae from the Triunfo Peatland in the Central Cordillera provided a proxy record of pH and water-table depth for the late Holocene, and inferred changes were correlated with peat C/N measurements during most of the record. Comparison with a lake-level reconstruction suggests that at least the major testate amoeba–inferred changes were driven by climate. Our work indicates that testate amoebae are useful paleoenvironmental indicators in high-elevation tropical peatlands.

Chironomid communities were studied in a sediment core collected from Lake Moreno Oeste, located in Nahuel Huapi National Park. A major change in midge assemblages occurred at ∼AD 1760, which was characterized by a decrease of “cold taxa” including Polypedilum sp.2 and Dicrotendipes, and an increase of “warm taxa” including Apsectrotanypus and Polypedilum sp.1. These taxa are likely related to climatic conditions concurrent with the end of a cold period at ∼AD 1500-1700 and the beginning of a drying climate at ∼AD 1740-1900 in northern Patagonia. Coarse tephra layers had low midge diversity; however they did not disrupt the climatic trend as the community recovered rapidly after the event. Since AD 1910, after the increase in suburban housing, fish introduction, and the construction of a road, there was an increase in the relative abundances of taxa typically associated with the littoral zone, such as Parapsectrocladius, Riethia, Apsectrotanypus, and some Tanytarsini morphotypes. The main change in the chironomid community appears to be associated with long-term climate change. At the beginning of the 20th century, other site-specific environmental factors (catchment change and fish introduction) altered the chironomid assemblages, making it more difficult to understand the relative importance of each driver of assemblage change.

The importance of gulls as bioindicators, reservoirs and vectors of Escherichia coli strains resistant to the older generation of antibiotics, broad spectrum cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones is reviewed in the following paper. The aim is to highlight the fact that they could be a hot spot for the development of new resistance types. Even though gulls do not naturally come into contact with antibiotics, they are omnivorous and they often eat food in agricultural, rural and urban areas so they can be infected with resistant strains from livestock or human sources which they can spread again into the environment. They may then come into contact with poultry kept under free range conditions. More intensive investigations of this subject are required, as well as the need to find accurate and reliable preventive measures, are demonstrated in the present paper.

The fragmented ecosystems along the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve provide important habitats for biota including lichens. Nonetheless, the Reserve is disturbed by dense human populations and associated air pollution. Here we investigated patterns of lichen diversity within urban and rural sites at three different locations (Niagara, Hamilton, and Owen Sound) along the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario, Canada. Our results indicate that both lichen species richness and community composition are negatively correlated with increasing human population density and air pollution. However, our quantitative analysis of community composition using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicates that human population density and air pollution is more independent than might be assumed. The CCA analysis suggests that the strongest environmental gradient (CCA1) associated with lichen community composition includes regional pollution load and climatic variables; the second gradient (CCA2) is associated with local pollution load and human population density factors. These results increase the knowledge of lichen biodiversity for the Niagara Escarpment and urban and rural fragmented ecosystems as well as along gradients of human population density and air pollution; they suggest a differential influence of regional and local pollution loads and population density factors. This study provides baseline knowledge for further research and conservation initiatives along the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve.

The present study was conducted in Magnesia Prefecture, central Greece, during the period May–June 2007. It aimed at the comparison between conventional and certified organic olive groves with regard to olive and olive oil production, diversity of plants (herbaceous and woody) and diversity and abundance of avifauna. Correlations between variables within herbaceous plants (linear regression) and woody plants (Principal Component Analysis), and the role of integration time of olive groves to the organic system were investigated. Also, finding easily measurable parameters indicating high bird diversity levels within organic and conventional management systems was a main target of the study. According to our findings, neither edible olive yield nor olive oil yield showed significant differences between conventional and certified organic olive groves. There is an increasing trend for alpha and beta diversity of herbaceous plant species, woody plant beta diversity, density and cover of woody plants, and density of breeding birds in certified organic olive groves (10 years) in comparison with conventional ones. The effect of time since the adoption of organic procedures is very important and produces benefits for the biodiversity. In the total olive groves 15 insectivorous, six granivorous and three insectivorous/granivorous birds species were recorded. Nine bird species distinguished by Ward's hierarchical clustering were identified as typical (indicator value, IndVal>50%) of specific farming systems. Among them, the Eurasian jay, associated with the 10-year certified organic olive groves, and the common cuckoo, Orphean warbler and Red-backed shrike, associated with the 6-year certified organic olive groves, should be regarded as characteristic species (IndVal>70%). Conclusively, organic farming favors some aspects of diversity of herbaceous and woody plants of olive grove ecosystems. On the contrary, similar effects on breeding bird diversity and density were not clearly recorded. However, breeding bird density proved a good indicator of their richness.

The chemistry of epiphytic lichens was determined in two Venezuelan cloud forests adjacent to the Caracas Valley at Altos de Pipe and El Avila National Park. This is the second component of a two-part study examining the chemistry of fogs and their effects on sensitive biota in these forests. The widespread lichen Parmotrema madagascariaceum was chosen as an indicator of trace metal input. Background lichen collections and transplant experiments were carried out to evaluate spatial trends in atmospheric depositon of trace metals at different altitudes and exposures of the two montane locations. Elevated concentratons of metals including Pb and Zn were seen in lichen tissue and associated bark. Lead levels in lichens reached 190 μg g-1 dry wt. Lichens transplanted from relatively ‘clean’ to more polluted sites showed significant increases of metals, particularly Pb. Increases of up to 6.3 μg Pb g-1 mo-1 after 6 and 10 months were recorded relative to background and in situ lichen material. In contrast, when lichsens were reciprocally transplanted in nylon net bags from less to more exposed sites there was a significant decrease in Pb and Zn concentrations after 6 and 10 months. With long-term exposure to elevated concentrations of these trace metals epiphytic lichens, as well as other sensitive cloud forest biota, may be at risk of decline.

We studied assemblages of littoral chironomids from three alpine lakes in the High Tatra Mountains (Slovakia) along an altitude range of 1725–2157 m. The study sites were selected in order to emphasize differences in their thermal regimes. Littoral samples were taken quantitatively in the ice-free seasons of 2000 and 2001. In total, 3468 chironomid larvae and pupae were collected and 32 taxa were identified. Some parameters of the littoral chironomid assemblages showed clear patterns along the altitude gradient. The number of taxa and Shannon diversity increased markedly with decreasing altitude. Density, however, did not show any correlation with altitude. Even though gatherers highly dominated in all sites, their relative abundance decreased with decreasing altitude. The ratio of scrapers and predators correlated negatively with altitude. According to the results of a Detrended Correspondence Analysis, Pseudodiamesa arctica and Micropsectra radialis were chosen as indicator species for alpine lakes >2000 m a.s.l. Typical subalpine lake inhabitants are Zavrelimyia sp., Prodiamesa olivacea, Corynoneura scutellata group, Cricotopus polaris, Micropsectra bavarica and Paratanytarsus austriacus. A single species, Micropsectra junci, seemed to be characteristic of alpine lakes <2000 m a.s.l. This “gradient lake concept” could be used to predict changes in mountain lake fauna under expected climate change scenarios. Generally, an upward shift of subalpine species would be expected. The thermal regime of lakes, however, also depends on several local factors. Consequently, the schemes outlined here would not be valid for the entire Tatra lake district.

In this study the lead and cadmium concentrations in the liver, intestine, muscle and gonad of the shark Carcharhinus dussumieri and its parasites, Anthobothrium sp. and Paraorigmatobothrium sp. (Cestoda), were measured and compared. Tissue samples were collected from Iranian coastal waters of the Persian Gulf. After tissue preparation, the cadmium and lead concentrations were analysed using the Inductively Coupled Plasma technique. The results revealed that lead and cadmium concentrations in both parasite species were many times higher than in the host tissues. The results strongly support the view that helminth parasites are extremely sensitive early warning bioindicators, particularly in sensitive environments under threat but where pollution levels are presently low. They may also have a beneficial effect on the health of their hosts by acting as heavy metal filters.

Epiphytic lichens were sampled on selected trees in 19 sites radiating from Chiang Mai city including the adjacent mountain Doi Suthep in Northern Thailand using the VDI method (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure) to obtain frequency of occurrence in 10 area units per sampled tree. Sites selected included highly polluted sites in urban and adjacent industrial areas of Chiang Mai city, disturbed rural sites and undisturbed forest on Doi Suthep mountain, with altitudes varying from 260–1450 m. Lichen diversity was highest in upland sites and lowest in urban and agricultural sites. Analysis of lichen taxa at generic and at macrolichen species level and environmental data using PRIMER showed that upland and lowland sites were distinguished in the first division at both levels and correlated with altitude and vegetation type. Analysis of all taxa at generic level showed no separation of lowland sites but at macrolichen species level a better separation was obtained, suggesting that lichen diversity alone cannot be used for biomonitoring of air pollution. The relationship of epiphytic lichens to climate and pollution data available for Chiang Mai city and Doi Suthep is discussed and results compared with data from other studies in SE Asia.

This review presents environmental and biological indicators of the impact of three major categories of inputs in coral reef lagoons i.e. particles, nutrients and metals. Information was synthesized to extract well established indicators together with some interesting new concepts currently under development, and to provide the reader with an assessment of their respective advantages and drawbacks. The paper has been organized according to the capacity of three categories of indicators to respond either in a specific or a non specific way to a given source of input. The first section focuses on abiotic indicators which main interest is to respond instantaneously and in a truly specific way to a given source of input. The second and third sections present informations on bioindicators either at the sub-individual level or at the individual to community level, indicator specificity generally decreasing as a direct function of biological or ecological complexity. This review showed that even though significant work has already been done on coral reef ecosystems, much more scientific studies are still needed to answer the growing local demands for simple and truly validated tools to be used in environmental surveys. It is further stressed that, due to the biological and environmental diversity of coral reef lagoons, a preliminary step of on-site validation must be considered as an absolute prerequisite when indicators are planned to be used in the frame of a local environmental monitoring programme.

Intestinal helminths of fish are of increasing interest as potential bioindicators for heavy metal contamination in aquatic habitats. Among these parasites cestodes and acanthocephalans in particular have an enormous heavy metal accumulation capacity exceeding that of established free living sentinels. Metal concentrations several thousand times higher in acanthocephalans than in host tissues were described from field and laboratory studies. Whereas larval stages inside their intermediate hosts are not able to take up high quantities of metals, young worms begin to take up metals immediately after infection of the final host. After four to five weeks of exposure, the parasites reach a steady-state concentration orders of magnitude higher than the ambient water level. Thus, acanthocephalans are not only very effective in taking up metals, but they can also respond very rapidly to changes in environmental exposure. The mechanism which enable acanthocephalans to take up metals from the intestinal lumen of the host appears to be based on the presence of bile acids, which form organo-metallic complexes that are easily absorbed by the worms due to their lipophilicity. Investigations of the environmental conditions affecting metal uptake have shown that the parasites are more consistent and reliable indicators for metal pollution than the host tissues as metal levels of the latter are much more dependent on the water chemistry. Thus, after some years of research on the uptake of metals by acanthocephalans and on the factors affecting metal accumulation in intestinal parasites it should be asked if acanthocephalans meet the criteria commonly accepted for sentinels. If parasites can be considered as promising sentinels, we need reasons for the establishment of ‘new’ indicators. Therefore, this review summarises the present knowledge about parasites as bioindicators and compares the accumulation properties of parasites and established free living indicators. Finally, this review presents possible answers to the question why it could be advantageous to have new and even more sensitive indicators for environmental monitoring purposes.

Species are identified as bioindicators when their presence or abundance within sites of a particular habitat or a conservation area are high. Dufrêne and Legendre (1997), Ecological Monographs 67: 345–366, proposed the use of a flexible asymmetrical approach to detect indicator species and species assemblages characterizing groups of sites, the indicator value for each species being subsequently tested by randomization. Although the advantages of these methods in comparison to other multivariate or two-way indicator species analyses have been demonstrated, relatively few ecological studies have made use of them. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the advantages of the indicator species test using a data set generated by traditional fisheries activities at four areas in the Bonifacio Strait Marine Reserve, Corsica, France. ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis and another randomization test were also performed on the same data set. Of the 54 species caught in the fishing nets, the indicator species analyses identified 19 species for which the indicator value was significant for a given area, whereas the a posteriori Tukey test for ANOVA detected only 12 species for which the mass capture per unit effort was significantly greater for a given area. The efficiency of this new approach within the framework of conservation and marine reserve studies is demonstrated by focusing on three species (Sciaena umbra, Palinurus elephas and Maja verrucosa).

Although the uses and merits of terrestrial insects as indicators have been extensively discussed, there is a lack of clear definition, goal directedness and hypothesis testing in studies in the field. In an attempt to redress some of these issues and outline an approach for further studies, three categories of terrestrial insect indicators, corresponding to differences in their application, are proposed, i.e. environmental, ecological and biodiversity indicators. The procedures in terrestrial insect bioindicator studies should start with a clear definition of the study objectives and proposed use of the bioindicator, as well as with a consideration of the scale at which the study is to be carried out. Bioindication studies are conducted at a variety of spatial and temporal scales within the context of earth-system processes, but the objectives of the study will largely determine the scale at which it would be optimally conducted. There is a tendency for studies to be conducted below their space-time scaling functions, giving them apparent predictability. The selection of potential indicator taxa or groups is then based on a priori suitability criteria, the identification of predictive relationships between the indicator and environmental variables and, most importantly, the development and testing of hypotheses according to the correlative patterns found. Finally, recommendations for the use of the indicator in monitoring should be made. Although advocating rigorous, long-term protocols to identify indicators may presently be questionable in the face of the urgency with which conservation decisions have to be made, this approach is critical if bioindicators are to be used with any measurable degree of confidence.

Trois à cinq ans après un amendement de dolomie (carbonate calco-magnésien) réalisé en Belgique sur certains bassins versantsforestiers du massif ardennais, les diatomées épilithiques ont été prélevées dans deux ruisseaux situés en zone amendée etdans deux ruisseaux en zone non amendée afin de déceler les éventuels changements induits dans les peuplements algaux. Onobserve des assemblages à Eunotia typiques des eaux acides. L'espèce dominante est Eunotia exigua, souvent accompagnée parE. rhomboidea ou E. bilunaris. Dans le cadre de cette étude, aucune influence propre à l'amendement n'a pu être mise en évidencepar l'étude de ces bioindicateurs.