Wu Rudolf S S, Siu William H L, Shin Paul K S
Centre for Coastal Pollution and Conservation and Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2005;51(8-12):623-34. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.04.016.
A wide range of biological responses have been used to identify exposure to contaminants, monitor spatial and temporal changes in contamination levels, provide early warning of environmental deterioration and indicate occurrences of adverse ecological consequences. To be useful in environmental monitoring, a biological response must reflect the environmental stress over time in a quantitative way. We here argue that the time required for initial induction, maximum induction, adaptation and recovery of these stress responses must first be fully understood and considered before they can be used in environmental monitoring, or else erroneous conclusions (both false-negative and false-positive) may be drawn when interpreting results. In this study, data on initial induction, maximum induction, adaptation and recovery of stress responses at various biological hierarchies (i.e., molecular, biochemical, physiological, behavioral, cytological, population and community responses) upon exposure to environmentally relevant levels of contaminants (i.e., metals, oil, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organochlorines, organophosphates, endocrine disruptors) were extracted from 922 papers in the biomarker literature and analyzed. Statistical analyses showed that: (a) many stress responses may decline with time after induction (i.e., adaptation), even if the level of stress remains constant; (b) times for maximum induction and recovery of biochemical responses are positively related; (c) there is no evidence to support the general belief that time for induction of responses at a lower biological hierarchy (i.e., molecular responses and biochemical responses) is shorter than that at higher hierarchy (i.e., physiological, cytological and behavioral responses), although longer recovery time is found for population and community responses; (d) there are significant differences in times required for induction and adaptation of biological responses caused by different types of contaminants; (e) times required for initial and maximum induction of physiological responses in fish are significantly longer than those in crustaceans; and (f) there is a paucity of data on adaptation and recovery of responses, especially those at population and community levels. The above analyses highlight: (1) the limitations and possible erroneous conclusions in the present use of biomarkers in biomonitoring programs, (2) the importance of understanding the details of temporal changes of biological responses before employing them in environmental management, and (3) the suitability of using specific animal groups as bioindicator species.
一系列生物反应已被用于识别污染物暴露情况、监测污染水平的时空变化、提供环境恶化的早期预警以及指示不良生态后果的发生。要在环境监测中发挥作用，生物反应必须以定量方式反映随时间变化的环境压力。我们在此认为，在将这些应激反应用于环境监测之前，必须首先充分理解和考虑其初始诱导、最大诱导、适应和恢复所需的时间，否则在解释结果时可能会得出错误结论（包括假阴性和假阳性）。在本研究中，我们从生物标志物文献中的922篇论文中提取并分析了暴露于环境相关水平污染物（即金属、石油、多环芳烃（PAHs）、有机氯、有机磷、内分泌干扰物）后，不同生物层次（即分子、生化、生理、行为、细胞学、种群和群落反应）应激反应的初始诱导、最大诱导、适应和恢复的数据。统计分析表明：（a）许多应激反应在诱导后可能会随时间下降（即适应），即使压力水平保持不变；（b）生化反应的最大诱导时间和恢复时间呈正相关；（c）没有证据支持普遍观点，即较低生物层次（即分子反应和生化反应）的反应诱导时间比更高层次（即生理、细胞学和行为反应）的短，尽管种群和群落反应的恢复时间更长；（d）不同类型污染物引起的生物反应的诱导和适应所需时间存在显著差异；（e）鱼类生理反应的初始诱导和最大诱导所需时间明显长于甲壳类动物；（f）关于反应适应和恢复的数据很少，尤其是在种群和群落水平上的数据。上述分析突出了：（1）生物监测计划中目前使用生物标志物的局限性和可能的错误结论；（2）在将生物反应用于环境管理之前了解其时间变化细节的重要性；（3）使用特定动物群体作为生物指示物种的适用性。
