Biomonitoring of Water Quality

Dear Colleagues,

Water is one of the most essential natural resources. Continental waters are affected by different anthropogenic activities that could lead to deterioration in water quality and also in ecological status. Managing water is essential for sustainable development worldwide, and the needs of people and ecosystems must also be balanced. Due to this serious environmental problem, modern societies, through legislation or environmental agencies, maintain programs for the monitoring of pollutants and their effects on the environment. Nowadays, the main tool used to assess water contamination is chemical monitoring, which provides information about the levels of different pollutants in the water column (e.g., heavy metals and organic compounds). Nevertheless, the data obtained in this approach reflect the concentration of pollutants at the time of sampling, but not episodic or intermittent pollution events. Furthermore, the information obtained by this method is restricted to the chemical composition of water, and it is difficult to infer this result to ecological impacts. On the other hand, no information about the biodisponibility and the ecological effects (from the biochemical to the ecosystem integration level) are provided by these traditional techniques. Furthermore, it is absolutely necessary to assess the toxicity, bioacumulation and biomagnification. To resolve these problems, various biological matrices such as algae, bryophytes, fishes and macro-invertebrates have been used to assess water quality. However, the protocols and the development of techniques based on the use of these living beings are still far from their establishment and standardization. For these reasons, this Special Issue will include contributions and advances on biomonitoring techniques of chemical parameters of inland waters, and techniques that allow monitoring changes in the composition, structure and function of the communities and ecosystems of epicontinental waters.

Dr. Fernando Cobo
Dr. Jesús R. Aboal
Guest Editors

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