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Biomarkers as Environmental Indicators

Biomarkers as Environmental Indicators
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Biomarkers as Environmental Indicators

Biomarkers are indeed valuable tools for monitoring environmental health. They can indicate exposure to pollutants, track the effects of environmental contaminants on organisms, and help assess the overall health of ecosystems.

By measuring changes in biomarker levels, scientists can gain insights into the impact of environmental stressors and human activities on various species and ecosystems.

Biomarkers include genetic markers, enzyme activities, hormone levels, and physiological responses. Integrating biomarker data with traditional environmental monitoring can provide a more comprehensive understanding of environmental health and inform strategies for conservation and remediation.

Biomarkers as Environmental Indicators list:

Depositional environment Typical biomarkers patterns Reference Example
Marine 24-n-propylcholestane Moldowan et al., 1985
lacustrine botryococcane and other biomarkers of Botryococcus (fresh to brackish water) elevated concentrations of C30 tetracyclic polyphenols (fresh to brackish water) Metzger and Largeau, 1999 Holba et al., 2003
hypersaline C21 to C25 regular isoprenoids enriched in 13C relative to biomarkers of phytoplanktonic origin, high gammacerane1 Grice et al., 1998b Sinninghe Damste et al., 1995
terrestrial organic matter input diverse biomarkers of higher plants Summons and Brocks, Treatise on Geochemistry
strongly anoxic conditions (water column anoxia?) 28,30-dinorhopane, 25,28,30-trisnorhopane, gammacerane1 Peters and Moldowan, 1993 Sinninghe Damste et al., 1995
photic zone euxinia2 isorenieratane, 2,3,6- and 2,3,4- trimethylarylisoprenoids, chlorobactane, Me, isobutyl maleimide Grice et al., 1996a, Hartgers et al., 1993, Koopmans et al., 1996a, Summons and Powell, 1987
carbonates and evaporites low diasterane/sterane ratios1
high 2a-methylhopane concentrations1
high 30-norhopanes1
van Kaam-Peters et al., 1998
Summons et al., 1999
Subroto et al., 1991
   
   

1 Typical for, but not necessarily restricted to, this depositional environment

2 This might include environments with an anoxic and sulfidic water column that persists into the photic zone, or microbial mats in very shallow water settings that become anoxic within millimeters below the sediment-water interface

Biomarker classification