We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Papers
20 resultsShowing papers similar to Improving the assessment of ecosystem and wildlife health: microbiome as an early indicator
ClearDevelopment of Microbial Indicators in Ecological Systems
This review examines the use of microorganisms as bioindicators of ecological health across forest, aquatic, desert, plateau, and artificial ecosystems, highlighting their high environmental sensitivity and underutilized potential compared to animal and plant indicators.
Effectiveness assessment of using water environmental microHI to predict the health status of wild fish
Researchers tested whether measuring the health of microbial communities in river water could predict the health status of wild fish living there. The study found that the environmental microbiota health index was effective for bottom-dwelling fish but less reliable for fish living in the open water, suggesting this non-invasive monitoring approach works best for certain types of aquatic species.
The microbiomes of wildlife and chemical pollution: Status, knowledge gaps and challenges
This review examined how chemical pollutants including metals, pesticides, and microplastics alter the microbiomes of wild mammals, birds, and fish, identifying major knowledge gaps in understanding pollution-driven microbiome disruption in wildlife.
Microbiome: A forgotten target of environmental micro(nano)plastics?
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics affect the microbiome of various organisms, an area that has received less attention than other toxicological endpoints. Researchers found that most studies focused on polystyrene particles and that exposure consistently disrupted microbiome composition, triggered immune responses, and altered enzyme activity across organisms including crustaceans, fish, and mammals. The study highlights the microbiome as an important but often overlooked target of microplastic pollution.
The plant microbiota signature of the Anthropocene as a challenge for microbiome research
Researchers argue that human activities during the Anthropocene — the current era of profound human influence on Earth — have fundamentally altered plant-associated microbial communities in ways that threaten ecosystem function and planetary health. Holistic studies are needed to understand and reverse this loss of microbial diversity.
Aquatic ecosystem indices, linking ecosystem health to human health risks
Researchers reviewed indicators used to assess aquatic ecosystem health and found that most existing tools don't adequately capture the risks that degraded water ecosystems pose to human health and well-being. They propose a new set of combined indicators — covering chemical contaminants, pathogens, and biological markers — to better link ecosystem health monitoring to human health outcomes.
Microbiome Composition and Function in Aquatic Vertebrates: Small Organisms Making Big Impacts on Aquatic Animal Health
This review examines how microbiomes (communities of microorganisms) function in fish and marine mammals, and how environmental stressors like microplastics can disrupt them. Microplastics in water can alter the natural balance of beneficial microbes in aquatic animals, potentially affecting their health and the safety of seafood. Understanding these disruptions matters because changes in fish microbiomes could affect the quality and safety of the fish that end up on our plates.
Application of intestinal microbiota in marine fish for assessing the toxicity of typical pollutants: a literature review
This review examines how the gut microbiota of marine fish can serve as biomarkers for assessing the toxic effects of ocean pollutants, including microplastics, heavy metals, antibiotics, and petroleum hydrocarbons. The study highlights that changes in key microbial communities in fish intestines reflect environmental contamination levels and could provide valuable indicators for monitoring marine ecosystem health.
Symbiotoxicity: The Ability of Environmental Stressors to Damage Healthy Microbiome Structure and Interactions with the Host
This review proposes the concept of symbiotoxicity to describe how environmental stressors including microplastics, chemicals, and pathogens can disrupt healthy host-microbiome interactions, arguing that damage to the microbiome should be considered a distinct endpoint in ecological risk assessment.
Chemical pollution and microbiomes responses
This paper reviewed how chemical pollution affects microbial community composition and function across different environments. Exposure to pollutants including plastics, heavy metals, and pesticides can disrupt microbial diversity and the ecosystem services microbes provide. The review calls for greater integration of microbiome science into environmental risk assessment.
Earthworm-microbiome interactions: Unlocking next-generation bioindicators and bioengineered solutions for soil and environmental health
This review explores how earthworms and their associated microbiomes can serve as bioindicators of soil contamination from pollutants including microplastics. Changes in earthworm gut microbial communities can act as early warning signals of soil pollution, and engineered earthworm-microbiome systems show potential for environmental remediation. The study suggests that understanding these biological interactions could lead to new biomonitoring tools for assessing microplastic contamination in terrestrial ecosystems.
Biological invasions alter environmental microbiomes: a meta-analysis
This meta-analysis of publicly available data found that biological invasions consistently reduce microbial diversity and shift the structure of environmental microbial communities. The findings suggest that invasive species' ecological damage extends beyond visible plant and animal communities to the microbial level, making their impact more pervasive than previously recognized.
Microplastic exposure across trophic levels: effects on the host–microbiota of freshwater organisms
Researchers examined how microplastic exposure across trophic levels affects the gut microbiota of freshwater organisms, finding that microplastics alter microbial community composition and that effects can transfer through food web interactions.
Ecological risks in a ‘plastic’ world: A threat to biological diversity?
This review synthesized evidence on how microplastic pollution affects biological diversity and community structure across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, finding that most studies document effects at the individual level but that community- and ecosystem-level impacts remain poorly characterized.
Environmental Pollution and Animal Behavior: A Forerunner to Promote Health and Well Being
This review discusses how changes in animal behavior serve as early warning indicators of environmental pollution toxicity, arguing that behavioral monitoring of wildlife often detects environmental contamination—including microplastics—before measurable health effects appear in human populations.
Role of Microbes in Microplastic Removal and Its Effect on Human Health
This review examines the role of microbes in microplastic removal from environmental matrices and food systems, covering both degradation pathways and the health implications of microplastic-microbiome interactions for humans and other organisms.
Development of Ecosystem Health Assessment (EHA) and Application Method: A Review
This review traces the development of ecosystem health assessment methods, comparing biological indicator approaches and index system methods and analyzing how they have been applied to assess the health of aquatic, terrestrial, and urban ecosystems under anthropogenic stress.
Harnessing soil biodiversity to promote human health in cities
Researchers argue that urban soil biodiversity — the vast community of microorganisms, fungi, and invertebrates living in city soils — plays an overlooked role in human health by suppressing pathogens, shaping the human microbiome, and supporting immune function, and that restoring it in cities could offer meaningful public health benefits.
Impacts of microplastics on ecosystem services and their microbial degradation: a systematic review of the recent state of the art and future prospects
This systematic review summarized microplastic distribution across water, soil, food, and air and cataloged reported health effects including digestive illness, respiratory disorders, sleep disturbances, obesity, diabetes, and cancer following exposure. It highlighted microbial degradation strategies including biofilms and genetically modified microorganisms as promising approaches for environmental microplastic remediation.
Exploiting the gut microbiota of aquatic animals as indicators of microplastic pollution using interpretable machine learning models
Researchers analyzed gut microbiota data from 17 aquatic species to determine whether changes in gut bacteria could serve as indicators of microplastic pollution. Using machine learning models, they found that microplastics significantly altered gut bacterial composition in both freshwater and saltwater animals in consistent, detectable patterns. The study suggests that monitoring gut microbiota in aquatic animals could become a practical tool for assessing microplastic contamination in waterways.