Bacteria as Bioindicators: Bioassessment in the Bonneville Basin of Utah

Authors

Mark Merkley, Brigham Young University
Russell Rader, Brigham Young University

Keywords

bacteria, bioindicators, Bonneville Basin of Utah, environmental health

College

Life Sciences

Department

Biology

Abstract

Bioassessment is the practice of using organisms to detect environmental health and integrity. Ecosystem health and integrity depend on the interaction between living organism and ecosystem function. All organisms or groups of organisms do not respond the same to environmental stress. Depending on various disturbance characteristics, each group may respond at different rates and provide different information (Rader, 2001). Besides the usual macrophytes, macroinvertebrates, or algae, bacteria have the capability of being strong bioindicators. Because of their extremely small size, bacteria have the highest surface-to volume ratios of any living organisms. Thus, bacteria should be the most environmentally aware organisms, and as such, excellent early warning signals (Rader, 2001).

Recommended Citation

Merkley, Mark and Rader, Russell (2014) "Bacteria as Bioindicators: Bioassessment in the Bonneville Basin of Utah," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2014: Iss. 1, Article 745.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2014/iss1/745