Biomonitoring: Plants’ (in) perspective
2018
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Conference object (Published version)
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© 2018 by the Serbian Plant Physiology Society
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Show full item recordAbstract:
Anthropogenic pollution has been an ever-present threat, even in natural areas protected
under state legislations. Timely protection and prevention through continuous biomonitoring is
therefore a necessity.
Communities, organisms or their parts should detect the quality of the environment reliably
enough and at an early stage in order to be referred to as bioindicators, biomonitors, biomarkers
or biosensors. Such model organisms include animals and plants, with invertebrates, lichens and
mosses as the most frequent. Nevertheless, the use of higher plants in terrestrial ecosystems may
be even more feasible.
Plants as sessile organisms are considerably influenced by different environmental factors, as
well as by pollution. Reaction to different pollution types in higher plants could depend on whether
it was monocotyledon or dicotyledon, annual or perennial, woody or herbaceous. Changes in
the environment could reflect in altered physiology, anatomy, morphology or development. In
order to determine the ‘normal state’ of a given monitoring model system, we have to determine
specificities of every single reaction. Developmental instability, measured by estimates of fluctuating
and radial asymmetry, is an exception, because an optimal level i.e. perfect symmetry is
predefined.
In our research we are testing biomonitoring potential of different vegetative and reproductive
traits, as well as of developmental instability measures in invasive woody species with broad
distribution - Robinia pseudoacacia, in widely planted ornamental Iris germanica and in natural
populations of Dwarf Bearded Iris - Iris pumila that inhabits protected natural areas.
Keywords:
anthropogenic pollution; biomonitoring; Developmental instabilityIn:
- Uzelac B, editor. Book of abstracts. 3rd International Conference on Plant Biology (22nd SPPS Meeting); 2018 Jun 9-12; Belgrade, Serbia. Belgrade: Serbian Plant Physiology Society; Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković"; Faculty of Biology; 2018. p. 81-2.