It is defined as an observable and / or measurable change in a biological or biochemical response, which ranges from the molecular level to the physiological level and includes behavioral changes.
The responses of the biomarkers indicate any exposure or toxic effect of environmental stressors and should be ecologically relevant.
They are considered as early warning systems in the evaluation of ecosystem quality. They can be used to evaluate the chemical exposure and the adverse effects of contaminants on biota in situ.
These are measured at the individual level but their responses are significant to be predictors of effects at the population level.
Biomarkers of ecotoxicological relevance:
Although individual and subindividual biomarkers are important sensitive tools for assessing the health of organisms, there is a lack of ecological relevance. To improve the ecological risk assessment, higher levels of biological organization (population) are used in the following ecologically relevant biomarkers:
- Behavior
- Reproduction
- Increase
- Energetic metabolism
- Integrity in lysosomes
- Immunotoxicity
- Genotoxicity
Referencia: Férard y Blaise (2013). Encyclopedia of Aquatic Ecotoxicology.
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