Biomonitoring Network Research Articles

Application of climate change scenarios in the simulation of forest ecosystems: an overview

Climate change scenarios established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have developed a significant tool for analyzing, modeling, and predicting future climate change impacts in different research fields after more than 30 years of development and refinement. In the wake of future climate change, the changes in forest structure and functions have become a frontier and focal area of global change research. This study mainly reviews and synthesizes climate change scenarios and their applications in forest ecosystem research over the past decade. These applications include changes in (1) forest structure and spatial vegetation distribution, (2) ecosystem structure, (3) ecosystem services, and (4) ecosystem stability. Although climate change scenarios are useful for predicting future climate change impacts on forest ecosystems, the accuracy of model simulations needs to be further improved. Based on existing studies, climate change scenarios are used in future simulation applications to construct a biomonitoring network platform integrating observations and predictions for better conservation of species diversity.

Evaluating the Ecological Status of Fluvial Networks of Tropical Andean Catchments of Ecuador

In the tropical high mountains, human activities have strongly intensified in recent decades. Agricultural frontier movement toward higher elevations, river channel modifications, mining, and urban waste discharge threaten river ecosystem health, which is even more alarming when drinking water supply comes from surface water. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the ecological status of high mountain fluvial networks of tropical Andean catchments based on the definition of different river types. Physical–chemical variables and macroinvertebrate communities were sampled in 90 stations of seven tropical high mountain catchments. River habitat and riparian vegetation quality were further evaluated. K-means classification, using physical and hydro-morphological characteristics, identified six different river types. This classification was further refined to five river types by the analyses of macroinvertebrate communities through multidimensional scaling and analysis of similarity. The anthropogenic pressure gradients, present in the different river types, were inorganic (i.e., conductivity, turbidity), organic (i.e., fecal coliforms), river habitat, and riparian vegetation quality. Macroinvertebrate communities responded to different environmental variables in the páramo, mountain forest with humid shrub, urban, and Tarqui river types. Heterogeneous fluvial habitats and high altitude favored taxa such as Atanatolica, Mortoniella, Helicopsyche, Anacroneuria, Paltostoma, Helicopsyche, Paltostoma, Atopsyche, Pheneps, and Maruina. Chironomidae and Psychoda dipteran were associated with higher biochemical oxygen demand, lower oxygen concentration, high fecal coliforms, and total dissolved solids, while Haitia was linked to elevated nitrate concentrations. Integrated watershed management could benefit from a well-established biomonitoring network, considering different river types, which represents the natural variability of the ecosystems, as well as anthropogenic pressure gradients.

Distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates in relation to physicochemical parameters and macrophyte cover in the Ketar River, Ethiopia

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of physicochemical parameters and macrophyte on the macroinvertebrate assemblages in the Ketar River, which drains into Lake Ziway. Six sampling sites were selected along the river stretch and samples were collected from December to April 2017/2018 based on the method outlined in Ontario Benthos Biomonitoring Network Protocol Manual. A total of 5,450 individuals comprised of one class, 7 orders, and 23 families were collected during the study period. Hemiptera families were the predominant taxa and contributed the largest percentage of the total samples followed by the Coleoptera. Notonectidae and Corixidae shared the highest total abundance. This study confirmed that the sites covered with macrophytes were significantly different from the substrate both in taxa richness and total abundance (P < 0.05). Redundancy Analysis revealed that pH, Temperature, electric conductivity, DO, NO2, NO3, NH4, SiO2 and TP were the most important variables explaining the variation in macroinvertebrate assemblage patterns. The mean Shannon diversity index also indicated that the sites covered by the macrophyte stand had a significantly higher value than the sites sampled from the substrate, which implies that macrophytes support abundant, and promoting the diversity of macroinvertebrates. Thus, the conservation of macrophytes can enhance the conservation of macroinvertebrates along the course of the river, besides the role of macrophyte in sediment trapping and reducing sedimentation buildup in Lake Ziway.

Do we need aerobiological air monitoring in desert climates? The Qatar experience.

Knowledge about diurnal, seasonal, and annual fluctuations in airborne pollen and fungal spores in any geographical area is essential for effective diagnosis and treatment of allergies. Aerobiological analysis enables the detection of airborne pollen and spores, thus providing information on plant phenology, plant distribution, related diseases, and the risks for some species in terms of allergies. Although pollen and fungal spores have been widely studied as aeroallergens throughout the world, not much is known about the biological aerosols in countries with a desert environment; and these could be present in much higher concentrations than expected. Arid desert regions (including the region surrounding the Arab Gulf), characterized by hot weather, poor soils, and low biological productivity, have typically been neglected when building ambitious biomonitoring networks for the large-scale monitoring of biological particles; however, few studies in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and recently Qatar have aimed to delineate the various botanical families that contribute to inhalant allergens in this region.Understanding the aerobiological features of countries with hot and desert climates may better prepare healthcare providers to assist patients with allergic rhinitis. It may be argued that one of the reasons why aerobiologists have only recently turned their attention to the state of Qatar investigating how pollen and fungal spore records could contribute to evaluating the correlation between different pollen conditions and allergy symptoms.The first aerobiological network of Qatar was monitoring (2017–2020) the atmospheric pollen concentrations of Doha and Al Khor to determine the association between the possible risk of respiratory allergies and the distribution of certain species throughout the region. In the Qatari database, more than 25 native taxa have been recorded, up to 50% of which can be considered allergenic. This includes Amaranthaceae and Poaceae pollen among the major aeroallergens causing allergy symptoms in Qatar. Our study has confirmed a statistically significant association between Amaranthaceae and asthma and allergic rhinitis. To summarize, it is worth considering aerobiological monitoring in desert climate regions when assessing the effectiveness of pollen allergy therapy and planning prevention methods for patients.

The U.S. national biomonitoring network - Enhancing capability and capacity to assess human chemical exposures.

With the increased use of biomonitoring in public health, biomonitoring networks are forming worldwide. The National Biomonitoring Network (NBN), created in 2018, is an interconnected system of U.S. government laboratories in collaboration with public health partners, to advance human biomonitoring science and practice. The NBN aims to harmonize biomonitoring data for use in routine public health practice. The NBN has taken a systems approach to provide high-quality biomonitoring data by establishing quality standards, mentoring nascent programs, and enhancing analytical capability and capacity through technical assistance. Guided by a multi-disciplinary Network Steering Committee (NSC), the NBN has developed an organizational framework, membership criteria, and guidance practices related to study design, quality management and analytical measurements. To facilitate the production of these resources, the NSC established interdisciplinary workgroups of subject matter experts. To date, 20 state public health laboratories have joined the NBN. Differences in land-use practices, state and local laws and availability of resources resulted in considerable variability in the design and approach of NBN member biomonitoring programs. By contributing technical guidance, technical training, examples and templates for analytical and epidemiological practices and opportunities for collaboration and interaction, the NBN addressed some of these challenges. Important challenges remaining are to define minimum data variables for laboratory measurements, demographic and exposure information, and to identify an appropriate national repository for biomonitoring data. The current NBN membership has greatly benefited from the resources, collaboration and engagement with other state and federal scientists. The NBN hopes to expand membership and increase interaction with biomonitoring networks internationally. While the objectives of biomonitoring networks around the world may differ, understanding their structures, advantages and limitations inform the NBN and provide opportunity for cross-network collaboration.

Exposure Load: Using biomonitoring data to quantify multi-chemical exposure burden in a population.

People are often concurrently exposed to numerous chemicals. Here we sought to leverage existing large biomonitoring datasets to improve our understanding of multi-chemical exposures in a population. Using nationally-representative data from the 2012-2015 Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS), we developed Exposure Load, a metric that counts the number of chemicals measured in people above a defined concentration threshold. We calculated Exposure Loads based on five concentration thresholds: the analytical limit of detection (LOD) and the 50th, 75th, 90th and 95th percentiles. Our analysis considered 44 analyte biomarkers representing 26 chemicals from the 2012-2015 CHMS; complete biomarker data were available for 1858 participants aged 12-79 years following multiple imputation of results that were missing due to sample loss. Chemicals may have one or more biomarkers, and for the purposes of Exposure Load calculation, participants were considered to be exposed to a chemical if at least one biomarker was above the threshold. Distributions of Exposure Loads are reported for the total population, as well as by age group, sex and smoking status. Canadians had an Exposure Load between 9 and 21 (out of 26) when considering LOD as the threshold, with the majority between 13 and 18. At higher thresholds, such as the 95th percentile, the majority of Canadians had an Exposure Load between 0 and 3, although some people had an Exposure Load of up to 15, indicating high exposures to multiple chemicals. Adolescents aged 12-19 years had significantly lower Exposure Loads than adults aged 40-79yearsat all thresholds and adults aged 20-39yearsat the 50th and 75th percentiles. Smokers had significantly higher Exposure Loads than nonsmokers at all thresholds except the LOD, which was expected given that tobacco smoke is a known source of certain chemicals included in our analysis. No differences in Exposure Loads were observed between males and females at any threshold. These findings broadly suggest that Canadians are concurrently exposed to many chemicals at lower concentrations and to fewer chemicals at high concentrations. They should assist in identifying vulnerable subpopulations disproportionately exposed to numerous chemicals at high concentrations. Future work will use Exposure Loads to identify prevalent chemical combinations and their link with adverse health outcomes in the Canadian population. The Exposure Load concept can be applied to other large datasets, through collaborative efforts in human biomonitoring networks, in order to further improve our understanding of multiple chemical exposures in different populations.

Taxonomic error rates affect interpretations of a national‐scale ground beetle monitoring program at National Ecological Observatory Network

AbstractParataxonomists are responsible for taxonomic identifications in large‐scale biodiversity monitoring programs. However, they may lack formal taxonomic training, and thus, quantifying error rate in identification is paramount for evaluating data quality of larger biomonitoring efforts. In large‐scale biomonitoring in particular, parataxonomist error rate could vary among regions with different species richness and composition. Here, we tested whether error rates in identification of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) by parataxonomists increased in regions with greater species richness throughout the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), a national biomonitoring network spanning the United States. We compared identifications made by both parataxonomist and experts of 33,516 specimens collected between 2013 and 2017 from 18 ecoclimatic regions and analyzed error rates across ecoclimatic regions as a function of total richness identified by taxonomic experts. We then compared the additional level of taxonomic support that would be required to resolve identifications to species‐level identifications. We demonstrated the extent to which parataxonomist error rate can affect interpretation of common objectives of biomonitoring results, such as comparisons of species richness between ecoclimatic regions and capacity to identify target species of interest such as non‐indigenous species. Overall parataxonomist error rate was 11.1% and did not increase in regions with greater species richness. Expert taxonomists were required to resolve parataxonomist identifications to species in an additional 16% of specimens. With an average error rate of 11.1%, species richness estimates based on parataxonomists generally mirrored richness determined by experts. However, parataxonomist error rates as low as 5% were sufficient to misrepresent the gradient of species richness across ecoclimatic regions. Parataxonomist errors also led to false detection/missed detections of non‐indigenous species. As error rates were not influenced by increasing species richness, our study suggests that parataxonomists may be used consistently in large‐scale biomonitoring efforts to amplify the abilities of taxonomists by increasing the quantity and speed in which specimens are processed. However, our study also highlights that due to parataxonomist limitations, a subset of their materials must be regularly verified by professionals to ensure the quality of data collected.

Diatoms as indicators of the effects of river impoundment at multiple spatial scales.

River impoundment constitutes one of the most important anthropogenic impacts on the World's rivers. An increasing number of studies have tried to quantify the effects of river impoundment on riverine ecosystems over the past two decades, often focusing on the effects of individual large reservoirs. This study is one of the first to use a large-scale, multi-year diatom dataset from a routine biomonitoring network to analyse sample sites downstream of a large number of water supply reservoirs (n=77) and to compare them with paired unregulated control sites. We analysed benthic diatom assemblage structure and a set of derived indices, including ecological guilds, in tandem with multiple spatio-temporal variables to disclose patterns of ecological responses to reservoirs beyond the site-specific scale. Diatom assemblage structure at sites downstream of water supply reservoirs was significantly different to control sites, with the effect being most evident at the regional scale. We found that regional influences were important drivers of differences in assemblage structure at the national scale, although this effect was weaker at downstream sites, indicating the homogenising effect of river impoundment on diatom assemblages. Sites downstream of reservoirs typically exhibited a higher taxonomic richness, with the strongest increases found within the motile guild. In addition, Trophic Diatom Index (TDI) values were typically higher at downstream sites. Water quality gradients appeared to be an important driver of diatom assemblages, but the influence of other abiotic factors could not be ruled out and should be investigated further. Our results demonstrate the value of diatom assemblage data from national-scale biomonitoring networks to detect the effects of water supply reservoirs on instream communities at large spatial scales. This information may assist water resource managers with the future implementation of mitigation measures such as setting environmental flow targets.

Harmonization of Biomonitoring Measurements in the Canadian Health Measures Survey: An Overview of Approaches, Challenges, and Successes

The generation of high-quality biomonitoring data is essential for human exposure assessment and health effects research. The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) is the most comprehensive, direct health measures survey conducted in Canada and includes a biomonitoring component to measure exposure to environmental chemicals. Since its initiation in 2007, the program has successfully measured more than 250 chemicals in the blood, urine, and hair of Canadians. CHMS biomonitoring data have been used to establish baseline human biomonitoring concentrations in Canadians, inform public health, regulatory risk assessment and management decisions, and fulfill national and international chemical reporting requirements. These achievements required efforts to harmonize this program with other national and international programs on various areas of biomonitoring. This study provides an overview of the harmonization approaches in different practical aspects of the Canadian national biomonitoring program, including chemical selection, laboratory implementation and coordination (including method development, validation, and QA/QC processes), and data reporting (including LOD/LOQ and report format). Harmonization of approaches in Canada’s program ensures consistency across programs, comparability of data from one cycle to the next and with other populations, and enables tracking of exposure over time. Continued coordination of approaches will provide opportunities for the development of a biomonitoring network to enhance collaboration and cooperation among national and international biomonitoring programs.

Harmonization of Human Biomonitoring Measurements in the National Biomonitoring Network (United States): Learning from the Experiences of Others

Harmonization of Human Biomonitoring Measurements in the National Biomonitoring Network (United States): Learning from the Experiences of Others

Short-term microbial effects of a large-scale mine-tailing storage facility collapse on the local natural environment

We investigated the impacts of the Mount Polley tailings impoundment failure on chemical, physical, and microbial properties of substrates within the affected watershed, comprised of 70 hectares of riparian wetlands and 40 km of stream and lake shore. We established a biomonitoring network in October of 2014, two months following the disturbance, and evaluated riparian and wetland substrates for microbial community composition and function via 16S and full metagenome sequencing. A total of 234 samples were collected from substrates at 3 depths and 1,650,752 sequences were recorded in a geodatabase framework. These data revealed a wealth of information regarding watershed-scale distribution of microbial community members, as well as community composition, structure, and response to disturbance. Substrates associated with the impact zone were distinct chemically as indicated by elevated pH, nitrate, and sulphate. The microbial community exhibited elevated metabolic capacity for selenate and sulfate reduction and an abundance of chemolithoautotrophs in the Thiobacillus thiophilus/T. denitrificans/T. thioparus clade that may contribute to nitrate attenuation within the affected watershed. The most impacted area (a 6 km stream connecting two lakes) exhibited 30% lower microbial diversity relative to the remaining sites. The tailings impoundment failure at Mount Polley Mine has provided a unique opportunity to evaluate functional and compositional diversity soon after a major catastrophic disturbance to assess metabolic potential for ecosystem recovery.

Identifying North American freshwater invertebrates using DNA barcodes: are existing COI sequence libraries fit for purpose?

AbstractWe reviewed the availability of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences for 2534 North American freshwater invertebrate genera in public databases (GenBank and Barcode of Life Data Systems) and assessed representation of genera commonly encountered in the Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) database. COI sequence records were available for 61.2% of North American genera and 72.4% of Insecta genera in public databases. Mollusca (73.9%) and Nematoda (15.4%) were the best and worst represented groups, respectively. In CABIN, 85.4% of genera had COI sequence records, and 95.2% of genera occurring in >1% of samples were represented. Genera absent from CABIN tended to be uncommon or members of groups not routinely used for biomonitoring purposes. On average, 94.1% of genera in well-identified samples had associated sequence data. To leverage the full potential of genomics approaches, we must expand DNA-barcode reference libraries for poorly described components of freshwater food webs....

Land use and air quality in urban environments: Human health risk assessment due to inhalation of airborne particles

Particle matter (PM) and its associated compounds are a serious problem for urban air quality and a threat to human health. In the present study, we assessed the intraurban variation of PM, and characterized the human health risk associated to the inhalation of particles measured on PM filters, considering different land use areas in the urban area of Cordoba city (Argentina) and different age groups. To assess the intraurban variation of PM, a biomonitoring network of T. capillaris was established in 15 sampling sites with different land use and the bioaccumulation of Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn was quantified. After that, particles were collected by instrumental monitors placed at the most representative sampling sites of each land use category and an inhalation risk was calculated. A remarkable intraurban difference in the heavy metals content measured in the biomonitors was observed, in relation with the sampling site land use. The higher content was detected at industrial areas as well as in sites with intense vehicular traffic. Mean PM10 levels exceeded the standard suggested by the U.S. EPA in all land use areas, except for the downtown. Hazard Index values were below EPA's safe limit in all land use areas and in the different age groups. In contrast, the carcinogenic risk analysis showed that all urban areas exceeded the acceptable limit (1 × 10−6), while the industrial sampling sites and the elder group presented a carcinogenic risk higher that the unacceptable limit. These findings validate the use of T. capillaris to assess intraurban air quality and also show there is an important intraurban variation in human health risk associated to different land use.

Flow velocity–ecology thresholds in Canadian rivers: A comparison of trait and taxonomy‐based approaches

Abstract Understanding the physical and biological mechanisms contributing to flow velocity–ecology relationships is crucial for successful river management. The application of an ecological traits‐based approach offers the potential to explore mechanistic linkages between aquatic communities and a hydrological gradient. To date, however, studies focused on identifying these relationships have been limited by a lack of large‐scale, long‐term biological data. To address this gap at a scale relevant for water policy management, we employed data from a large‐scale standardised benthic monitoring program—the Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network—obtained from wadeable river sites across Canada. We applied the Threshold Indicator Taxa ANalysis method to quantify the response of the macroinvertebrate community, expressed as traditional taxonomic information and also as ecological traits, along a flow velocity gradient in reference and potential reference sites. Five key findings emerged: (1) using taxa and trait modalities revealed different flow velocity thresholds, (2) trait flow velocity indicators were less variable than taxon indicators, especially for positively responding trait modalities, (3) labile and non‐labile trait modalities demonstrated highly similar patterns along the flow velocity gradient, (4) taxa from 12 different orders responded negatively to flow velocity, while only EPT taxa and some dipterans responded positively to flow velocity, and (5) traits related to mobility and ecology (e.g. climber and swimmer habits, preference of cold‐cool eurythermal water and ability to survive desiccation) tended to respond positively to flow velocity, while traits related to morphology, life history and ecology (e.g. sprawler and burrower habits, preference for warm eurythermal water and inability to survive desiccation) tended to respond negatively to flow velocity. Providing ecologically based flow management targets can improve management plans, anticipate ecosystem consequences of anthropogenic change and support the development of policies to mitigate anthropogenic flow alteration. While our taxon and trait modality flow indicators were developed for Canadian watersheds, our methods to develop flow indicators and thresholds are transferrable to other systems where long‐term biomonitoring programs are being developed, underscoring the need for long‐term biomonitoring programs to support better ecosystem management.

Applying the reference condition approach to Lake of the Woods: sediment and benthic invertebrate community assessment for lake-wide management

ABSTRACT McDaniel T, Pascoe T. 2017. Applying the reference condition approach to Lake of the Woods: sediment and benthic invertebrate community assessment for lake-wide management. Lake Reserv Manage. 33:452–471. Lake of the Woods (LOW) is a large, international lake recently designated as impaired by the State of Minnesota due to excess nutrients and nuisance algal blooms. Concerns regarding the impacts of eutrophication have prompted the need for management tools to help to defines areas of ecosystem impairment and to monitor changes in trophic status. The goal of this study was to assess areas of potential anthropogenic impacts in LOW using a benthic macro-invertebrate reference condition approach model and identify factors correlating with these impacts. We also sought to provide baseline information on sediment chemistry prior to the initiation of increased mining activity in the basin. A Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) reference model was developed for LOW to compare the benthic community structure at a number of potentially stressed or impaired sites. Concentrations of both nutrients and metals in sediments at many sites in LOW exceeded Ontario provincial and Canadian federal effect levels for aquatic life. The benthic community at some locations was found to be divergent from reference sites, with substantial reductions in diversity and abundance associated with stress to the benthic community. As expected, benthic invertebrate diversity appeared to be most affected at sites that were deep, thermally stratified and high in nutrients thus making them prone to hypoxia. Benthic diversity was also negatively associated with higher concentrations of metals such as lead and arsenic. The CABIN approach can provide a useful tool in lake management for the identification of stressed sites.

Assessing ecological status with diatoms DNA metabarcoding: Scaling-up on a WFD monitoring network (Mayotte island, France)

Diatoms are excellent ecological indicators of water quality because they are broadly distributed, they show high species diversity and they respond rapidly to human pressures. In Europe, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) gives the legal basis for the use of this indicator for water quality assessment and its management. Several quality indices, like the Specific Polluosensitivity Index (SPI), were developed to assess the ecological quality status of rivers based on diatom communities. It is based on morphological identifications and count of diatom species present in natural biofilms using a microscope. This methodology requires high taxonomic skills and several hours of analysis per sample as 400 individuals must be identified to species level. Since several years, a molecular approach based on DNA metabarcoding combined to High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS) is developed to characterize species assemblages in environmental samples which is potentially faster and cheaper. The ability of this approach to provide reliable diatom inventories has been demonstrated and its application to water quality assessment is currently being improved. Despite optimization of the DNA metabarcoding process with diatoms, few studies had yet extended it at the scale of a freshwater monitoring network and evaluated the reliability of its quality assessment compared to the classical morphological approach.In the present study we applied DNA metabarcoding to the river monitoring network of the tropical Island Mayotte. This island is a French département since 2011 and the WFD has to be applied. This offered the opportunity to scale up the comparison of molecular and morphological approaches and their ability to produce comparable community inventories and water quality assessments. Benthic diatoms were sampled following WFD standards in 45 river sites in 2014 and 2015 (80 samples). All samples were submitted in parallel to the molecular and the morphological approaches. DNA metabarcoding was carried out using Genelute DNA extraction method, rbcL DNA barcode and PGM sequencing, while microscopic counts were carried out for the classical methodology. Diatom community structures in terms of molecular (OTUs) and of morphological (species) were significantly correlated. However, only 13% of the species was shared by both approaches, with qualitative and quantitative variation due to i) the incompleteness of the reference library (82% of morphological species are not represented in the database), ii) limits in taxonomic knowledge and iii) biases in the estimation of relative abundances linked to diatom cell biovolume. However, ecological quality status assessed with the molecular and morphological SPI values were congruent, and little affected by sequencing depth. DNA metabarcoding of diatom communities allowed a reliable estimation of the quality status for most of the rivers at the scale of the full biomonitoring network of Mayotte Island.

Metalleinträge in terrestrische Ökosysteme: Analyse von Daten aus Modellierung und Biomonitoring

Metal deposition into terrestrial ecosystems: evaluating data from modelling and biomonitoring In Germany, atmospheric deposition of heavy metals derived by modelling and measurements using biological and technical samplers are used to spatially differentiate respective European data. However, a comparative analysis is still missing. Therefore, this article compares results from deposition modelling derived by LOTOS-EUROS and EMEP with data on heavy metals concentrations in leaves, needles and organic surface soil collected by intensive forest monitoring (ICP Forests Level II) and the Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB). The concentrations in leaves and needles collected during the years 2007–2011 for the specimen bank revealed clear correlations with the modelled values. They were specific for the matrices sampled and, in case of Cd concentrations in one year old spruce needles, for ecosystem types. Thereby, the correlations with LOTOS-EUROS were stronger than those with EMEP. Yet, these differences could not be proved to be significant. Most data retrieved from ICP Forests Level II monitoring showed stronger correlations with EMEP. They are lower than those calculated from specimen bank data. The advantage of IPC Forests Level II data is that it yields concentrations for different age groups of needles. Rather high correlations were found especially between LOTOS-EUROS results and Pb concentrations in two year old needles collected from pine and spruce. Additionally to leaves and needles, Forests Level II data were used to analyze heavy metal concentrations in organic soil layers. Significant correlations were computed for Cd between the modelled total deposition and respective concentrations in OH soil layers and for Pb between modelled total deposition and OL and OH soil layers. The different biomonitoring networks should be connected more tightly to enhance the spatial significance of their common data.

Comparability of macroinvertebrate biomonitoring indices of river health derived from semi-quantitative and quantitative methodologies

Aquatic macroinvertebrates have been the basis for one of the primary indicators and a cornerstone of lotic biomonitoring for over 40 years. Despite the widespread use of lotic invertebrates in statutory biomonitoring networks, scientific research and citizen science projects, the sampling methodologies employed frequently vary between studies. Routine statutory biomonitoring has historically relied on semi-quantitative sampling methods (timed kick sampling), while much academic research has favoured fully quantitative methods (e.g. Surber sampling). There is an untested assumption that data derived using quantitative and semi-quantitative samples are not comparable for biomonitoring purposes. As a result, data derived from the same site, but using different sampling techniques, have typically not been analysed together or directly compared. Here, we test this assumption by comparing a range of biomonitoring metrics derived from data collected using timed semi-quantitative kick samples and quantitative Surber samples from the same sites simultaneously. In total, 39 pairs of samples from 7 rivers in the UK were compared for two seasons (spring and autumn). We found a strong positive correlation (rs=+0.84) between estimates of taxa richness based on ten Surber sub-samples and a single kick sample. The majority of biomonitoring metrics were comparable between techniques, although only fully quantitative sampling allows the density of the community (individual m−2) to be determined. However, this advantage needs to be balanced alongside the greater total sampling time and effort associated with the fully quantitative methodology used here. Kick samples did not provide a good estimate of relative abundance of a number of species/taxa and, therefore, the quantitative method has the potential to provide important additional information which may support the interpretation of the biological metrics.

Advancing environmental health surveillance in the US through a national human biomonitoring network.

The United States lacks a comprehensive, nationally-coordinated, state-based environmental health surveillance system. This lack of infrastructure leads to: • varying levels of understanding of chemical exposures at the state & local levels • often inefficient public health responses to chemical exposure emergencies (such as those that occurred in the Flint drinking water crisis, the Gold King mine spill, the Elk river spill and the Gulf Coast oil spill) • reduced ability to measure the impact of public health interventions or environmental policies • less efficient use of resources for cleaning up environmental contamination Establishing the National Biomonitoring Network serves as a step toward building a national, state-based environmental health surveillance system. The Network builds upon CDC investments in emergency preparedness and environmental public health tracking, which have created advanced chemical analysis and information sharing capabilities in the state public health systems. The short-term goal of the network is to harmonize approaches to human biomonitoring in the US, thus increasing the comparability of human biomonitoring data across states and communities. The long-term goal is to compile baseline data on exposures at the state level, similar to data found in CDC's National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Barriers to success for this network include: available resources, effective risk communication strategies, data comparability & sharing, and political will. Anticipated benefits include high quality data on which to base public health and environmental decisions, data with which to assess the success of public health interventions, improved risk assessments for chemicals, and new ways to prioritize environmental health research.

25 years of HBM in the Czech Republic

Since 1991 a human biomonitoring network has been established in the Czech Republic as part of the Environmental Health Monitoring System, which was set out by the Government Resolution. During the last quarter-century, important data was obtained to characterize exposure to both children and adult populations to significant toxic substances from the environment, to development trends over time, to establish reference values and compare them with existing health-related values. Moreover, the saturation of population with several essential substances as selenium, zinc, copper or iodine has also been monitored. Development of analytical and statistical methods led to increase the capacity building, improvement of QA/QC in analytical laboratories and interpretation of results. The obtained results are translated to policy actions and are used in health risk assessment processes at local and national levels.