Biomarkers in Ecotoxicology: An Overview

Importing pollutants, altering ecosystems, introducing unknown species or eliminating native species and changing temperatures cause stress on ecological systems. These activities have an impact not only on individual organisms’ survival and performance, but also on the structure and function of natural ecosystems, as well as the diversity of life, including the number of species, genetic composition and the variety of ecosystems and landscapes. Biomarkers for application in ecotoxicology have been developed and applied with considerable effort. These initiatives stem from a desire for early warning signs that respond before observable effects on people and populations materialize, as well as a need to figure out what’s causing the observed population and community-level effects. This review briefly explore the use of biomarkers in ecotoxicology and offer examples of how they have been used in the past. It is concluded that biomarkers can help us to understand the mechanisms underlying the reported effects of xenobiotics on whole organism performance.