TY  - JOUR
AB  - Bioindication has become an indispensable part of water quality monitoring in most countries of the 
world, with the presence and abundance of bioindicator taxa, mostly multicellular eukaryotes, used for 
biotic indices. In contrast, microbes (bacteria, archaea and protists) are seldom used as bioindicators in 
routine assessments, although they have been recognized for their importance in environmental pro- 
cesses. Recently, the use of molecular methods has revealed unexpected diversity within known func- 
tional groups and novel metabolic pathways that are particularly important in energy and nutrient cy- 
cling. In various habitats, microbial communities respond to eutrophication, metals, and natural or an- 
thropogenic organic pollutants through changes in diversity and function. In this review, we evaluated 
the common trends in these changes, documenting that they have value as bioindicators and can be used 
not only for monitoring but also for improving our understanding of the major processes in lotic and lentic environments. Current knowledge provides a solid foundation for exploiting microbial taxa, com- 
munity structures and diversity, as well as functional genes, in novel monitoring programs. These micro- 
bial community measures can also be combined into biotic indices, improving the resolution of individual 
bioindicators. Here, we assess particular molecular approaches complemented by advanced bioinformatic 
analysis, as these are the most promising with respect to detailed bioindication value. We conclude that 
microbial community dynamics are a missing link important for our understanding of rapid changes in 
the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems, and should be addressed in the future environmental 
monitoring of freshwater ecosystems.
DA  - 2021
DO  - 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116767
LA  - eng
PY  - 2021
SN  - 0043-1354
T2  - Water Research
TI  - Expanding ecological assessment by integrating microorganisms into routine freshwater biomonitoring
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0070-pub-29498526
Y2  - 2024-11-22T10:58:11
ER  -