Biomonitoring: Plants’ (in) perspective

Abstract

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.