title: Ecosystem management bioindicators: the ECOMAN project--a multi-biomarker approach to ecosystem management.
abstract: The ECOMAN project was initiated from an awareness of the complexity of the functioning of coastal marine systems and the clear need for more pragmatic environmental assessment techniques linking environmental degradation with its causes. The aim of the project is to develop a suite of easy to use, cost effective and environmentally valid biological responses (biomarkers) to assess the general health of coastal systems, including estuaries. To achieve this aim, various sublethal endpoints are being measured and evaluated from a range of common coastal organisms showing different feeding types (filter feeding, grazing and predation) and habitat requirements (estuary and rocky shore) and at different levels of biological response (cellular, physiological and behavioural). This holistic integrated approach is essential to identify the full impact of chemical contamination on organisms, and enables the sensitivity of organisms to be ranked and key sentinel species for specific habitats to be identified.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences (Plymouth Environmental Research Centre), University of Plymouth, Portland Square, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA, UK. tgalloway@plymouth.ac.uk
authors.forename: Tamara S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Galloway
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Browne
authors.forename: Awantha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dissanayake
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lowe
authors.forename: Malcolm B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Michael H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Depledge
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D007448:Invertebrates; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers