Biomonitoring the Health of Coastal Marine Ecosystems-The Roles and Challenges of Microscale Toxicity Tests

摘要

Coastal marine ecosystems in many parts of the world are under unrelenting stress caused by urban development, hazardous or toxic substances, overfishing, habitat de- struction, the introduction of exotic species and natural toxins. Biomonitoring plays a vital role in governmental and industrial strategies to identify, assess, control and reduce these problems. Sensitive and practical techniques in biomonitoring are needed in all of the strategic ap- proaches-from toxic chemical rating and classification, to pollution source control status and trends monitoring, and assessments of "marine ecosystem health".