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namarta
namarta
Student
College - Senior

What are indicator organisms? Why do we use indicators for monitoring the qualify of water & food.

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Posted by namarta on Tuesday January 20, 2009 at 8:56 PM and tagged with ecology, food, indicator, indicator organisms, quality, science, signal, water.

Answers:


  1. gbeatty Teacher
    College - Freshman

    eNotes Editor

    Indicator organisms are organisms that can only flourish in the presence of some key environmental factor (or that fail quickly in the presence of a crucial environmental toxin). These organisms are used as markers: to tell if air is good or bad, if food is good or bad, etc.

    We use these because they are useful, and because they are often an inexpensive natural way to monitor an environment. The classic "canary in a coal mine," used to monitor air quality, is a good example.

    Sources:
    http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861692396/indicator_or...

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    Posted by gbeatty on Thursday January 22, 2009 at 5:21 PM