Digitally improving the identification of aquatic macroinvertebrates for indices used in biomonitoring

Digitally improving the identification of aquatic macroinvertebrates for indices used in biomonitoring PDF Author: Koen, R. C. J.
Publisher: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 10

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Book Description
This report provides an overview of the mini Stream Assessment Scoring System (miniSASS) and South African Scoring System Version 5 (SASS5) as biomonitoring techniques for assessing the ecological condition of streams and rivers based on the identification of aquatic macroinvertebrates. While miniSASS relies on minimally trained citizen scientists to identify macroinvertebrates at the Order-level, SASS5 utilizes expertly accredited practitioners for finer resolution, even up to the family-level. However, the reliance on citizen scientists for miniSASS identification introduces limitations in terms of precision, accuracy, and reliability. To address these limitations, ongoing developments within the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation include the creation of a miniSASS smartphone application, an upgraded website, an interactive online course, and a machine-learning identification algorithm to assist with photo identification. Additionally, a revised dichotomous key has been developed to improve operator identification during miniSASS surveys. Furthermore, the potential for upscaling the machine-learning identification algorithm to assist in identifying the 91 family-level taxa used in SASS5 assessments has been explored. The outcomes of these developments and explorations presented in this paper aim to enhance the overall effectiveness and reliability of both the miniSASS and SASS5 techniques. By leveraging digital innovation and incorporating machine-learning technology, we anticipate the efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility of biomonitoring assessments will significantly improve, ultimately contributing to a better understanding and management of our aquatic ecosystems.

Digitally improving the identification of aquatic macroinvertebrates for indices used in biomonitoring

Digitally improving the identification of aquatic macroinvertebrates for indices used in biomonitoring PDF Author: Koen, R. C. J.
Publisher: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 10

Get Book Here

Book Description
This report provides an overview of the mini Stream Assessment Scoring System (miniSASS) and South African Scoring System Version 5 (SASS5) as biomonitoring techniques for assessing the ecological condition of streams and rivers based on the identification of aquatic macroinvertebrates. While miniSASS relies on minimally trained citizen scientists to identify macroinvertebrates at the Order-level, SASS5 utilizes expertly accredited practitioners for finer resolution, even up to the family-level. However, the reliance on citizen scientists for miniSASS identification introduces limitations in terms of precision, accuracy, and reliability. To address these limitations, ongoing developments within the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation include the creation of a miniSASS smartphone application, an upgraded website, an interactive online course, and a machine-learning identification algorithm to assist with photo identification. Additionally, a revised dichotomous key has been developed to improve operator identification during miniSASS surveys. Furthermore, the potential for upscaling the machine-learning identification algorithm to assist in identifying the 91 family-level taxa used in SASS5 assessments has been explored. The outcomes of these developments and explorations presented in this paper aim to enhance the overall effectiveness and reliability of both the miniSASS and SASS5 techniques. By leveraging digital innovation and incorporating machine-learning technology, we anticipate the efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility of biomonitoring assessments will significantly improve, ultimately contributing to a better understanding and management of our aquatic ecosystems.

Monitoring Animal Populations and Their Habitats

Monitoring Animal Populations and Their Habitats PDF Author: Brenda McComb
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1420070584
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
In the face of so many unprecedented changes in our environment, the pressure is on scientists to lead the way toward a more sustainable future. Written by a team of ecologists, Monitoring Animal Populations and Their Habitats: A Practitioner’s Guide provides a framework that natural resource managers and researchers can use to design monitoring programs that will benefit future generations by distilling the information needed to make informed decisions. In addition, this text is valuable for undergraduate- and graduate-level courses that are focused on monitoring animal populations. With the aid of more than 90 illustrations and a four-page color insert, this book offers practical guidance for the entire monitoring process, from incorporating stakeholder input and data collection, to data management, analysis, and reporting. It establishes the basis for why, what, how, where, and when monitoring should be conducted; describes how to analyze and interpret the data; explains how to budget for monitoring efforts; and discusses how to assemble reports of use in decision-making. The book takes a multi-scaled and multi-taxa approach, focusing on monitoring vertebrate populations and upland habitats, but the recommendations and suggestions presented are applicable to a variety of monitoring programs. Lastly, the book explores the future of monitoring techniques, enabling researchers to better plan for the future of wildlife populations and their habitats. Monitoring Animal Populations and Their Habitats: A Practitioner’s Guide furthers the goal of achieving a world in which biodiversity is allowed to evolve and flourish in the face of such uncertainties as climate change, invasive species proliferation, land use expansion, and population growth.

The Pollution Biology of Aquatic Oligochaetes

The Pollution Biology of Aquatic Oligochaetes PDF Author: Pilar Rodriguez
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400717180
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
In aquatic ecosystems, the oligochaetes are often a major component of the community. Their relevance in sediment quality assessment is largely related to their benthic and detritivorous life habit. In this book, we aim to present the state of the art of Pollution Biology using oligochaete worms in laboratory and field studies. Future research will require the combination of a variety of methodological approaches and the integration of the resulting information, avoiding fragmented and often conflicting visions of the relationships of the species with their environment. Current approaches to ecotoxicology and bioaccumulation using ecological risk assessment provide the opportunity to relate community studies with probability of effects. This book addresses three main themes: Ecological and Field Studies using the composition and structure of oligochaete communities, Toxicology and Laboratory Studies, and Bioaccumulation and Trophic Transfer Studies. Two appendices list values of toxicological parameters (LC50, EC50) and several bioaccumulation variables (bioaccumulation factors, biological half-life, toxicokinetic coefficients, and critical body residues) for different oligochaete species. Additional information is provided on Methodological Issues and on the Taxonomy of several oligochaete families, with information on the most recent taxonomic debates. Each chapter includes a critical view, based on the authors’ experience, of a number of current issues which have been raised in the literature.

The GEO Handbook on Biodiversity Observation Networks

The GEO Handbook on Biodiversity Observation Networks PDF Author: Michele Walters
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319272888
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Biodiversity observation systems are almost everywhere inadequate to meet local, national and international (treaty) obligations. As a result of alarmingly rapid declines in biodiversity in the modern era, there is a strong, worldwide desire to upgrade our monitoring systems, but little clarity on what is actually needed and how it can be assembled from the elements which are already present. This book intends to provide practical guidance to broadly-defined biodiversity observation networks at all scales, but predominantly the national scale and higher. This is a practical how-to book with substantial policy relevance. It will mostly be used by technical specialists with a responsibility for biodiversity monitoring to establish and refine their systems. It is written at a technical level, but one that is not discipline-bound: it should be intelligible to anyone in the broad field with a tertiary education.

Miscellaneous Invertebrates

Miscellaneous Invertebrates PDF Author: Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110489279
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
This volume of the Handbook of Zoology summarizes "small" groups of animals across the animal kingdom. Dicyemida and Orthonectida are enigmatic parasites, formerly united as "Mesozoa" and their position among the multicellular animals is still not known with certainty. Placozoa are small, flat marine animals which provide important information on metazoan evolution. Comb jellies (Ctenophora) are esthetically fascinating animals which cause considerable discussion about their phylogenetic position. Seisonida are closely related to rotifers and acanthocephalans. Cycliophora were discovered and described as one of the last higher taxa and surprise by their complex life cycle. Kamptozoa (= Entoprocta) are small sessile animals in the sea and sometimes also in freshwater. Arrow worms (Chaetognatha) play an important role as predators in the plankton, but they also include benthic forms. Pterobranchia and acorn worms (Enteropneusta) belong to the deuterostomia and are related to echinoderms. In particular enteropneusts play an important role in understanding deuterostome evolution. These chapters provide up to date reviews of these exiting groups with reference to the important literature and therefore serves as an important source of information.

Water Quality: Monitoring and Assessment

Water Quality: Monitoring and Assessment PDF Author: Stephanie Fraser
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781641163002
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
The biological, radiological, chemical and physical traits of water are known as water quality. It is a measure of the water condition related to the requirements of biotic species and to human need. The health of ecosystems, safety of human contact, and drinking water are the most common standards used to measure water quality. Water quality parameters can be categorized into human consumption, environmental water quality, and industrial and domestic use. The measurement of water quality includes the process of sample collection, chemical analysis, real-time monitoring and testing in response to natural disasters. Various environmental indicators such as physical, chemical and biological indicators are also observed and used for the monitoring of water quality. This book explores all the important aspects of water quality in the present day scenario. It elucidates new techniques and their applications in a multidisciplinary manner. It will prove to be immensely beneficial to students and researchers in this field.

Automatic Diatom Identification

Automatic Diatom Identification PDF Author: Hans Du Buf
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9789810248864
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
This is the first book to deal with automatic diatom identification. It provides the necessary background information concerning diatom research, useful for both diatomists and non-diatomists. It deals with the development of electronic databases, image preprocessing, automatic contour extraction, the application of existing contour and ornamentation features and the development of new ones, as well as the application of different classifiers (neural networks, decision trees, etc.). These are tested using two image sets: (i) a very difficult set of Sellaphora pupula with 6 demes and 120 images; (ii) a mixed genera set with 37 taxa and approximately 800 images. The results are excellent, and recognition rates well above 90% have been achieved on both sets. The results are compared with identification rates obtained by human experts. One chapter of the book deals with automatic image capture, i.e. microscope slide scanning at different resolutions using a motorized microscope stage, autofocusing, multifocus fusion, and particle screening to select only diatoms and to reject debris. This book is the final scientific report of the European ADIAC project (Automatic Diatom Identification and Classification), and it lists the web-sites with the created public databases and an identification demo.

Regulating Chemical Risks

Regulating Chemical Risks PDF Author: Johan Eriksson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048194288
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
This volume presents research on current trends in chemical regulations – a fa- growing, complex, and increasingly internationalized field. The book grew out from a multidisciplinary research project entitled ‘Regulating Chemical Risks in the Baltic Sea Area: Science, Politics, and the Media’, led by Michael Gilek at Södertörn University, Sweden. This research project involved scholars and experts from natural as well as social sciences, based at Södertörn University, Swedish Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Karolinska Institutet, and Umeå University. The project group organized a multidisciplinary research conference on chemical risk regulations, held in Stockholm, August 15–17, 2007. Most of the contributions published in this book were, in draft form, first presented at this conference. The conference, like the ensuing edited volume, expanded the geographical focus beyond the Baltic Sea area to include wider European, and to some extent also global trends. Many thanks to all project colleagues and conference participants! We are very grateful for the generous financial support received from The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies (Östersjöstiftelsen), The Swedish Research Council Formas, and from Södertörn University. Without this support the present book would not have been possible. Special thanks to all of our fellow contributors, all of whom have submitted to- cal papers based on high-quality research. Many thanks also to Tobias Evers, who assisted us with technical editing. Finally, we are grateful for the professionalism shown by our editors at Springer.

Fish Field and Laboratory Methods for Evaluating the Biological Integrity of Surface Waters

Fish Field and Laboratory Methods for Evaluating the Biological Integrity of Surface Waters PDF Author: Donald J. Klemm
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fisheries
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description


Riverine Ecology Volume 2

Riverine Ecology Volume 2 PDF Author: Susanta Kumar Chakraborty
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030539415
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 953

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Book Description
This book is part of a two-volume set that offers an innovative approach towards developing methods and tools for assigning conservation categories of threatened taxa and their conservation strategies by way of different phases of eco-restoration in the context of freshwater river systems of tropical bio-geographic zones. The set provides a considerable volume of research on the biodiversity component of river ecosystems, seasonal dynamics of physical chemical parameters, geo-hydrological properties, types, sources and modes of action of different types of pollution, river restoration strategies and methodologies for the ongoing ecological changes of river ecosystems. Volume 2 highlights biodiversity potential in aiding the resistance and resilience of riverine ecosystem functioning and their synergistic effects on ongoing environmental perturbations. Comprehensive information on the conservation of river-associated-wildlife is provided, covering the impacts of pollution, land-use changes, river policies, and ecosystem restoration strategies. The book offers an innovative approach towards developing methods and tools for assigning conservation categories of threatened taxa, and covers their conservation strategies by way of different phases of eco-restoration in the context of freshwater river systems of tropical bio-geographic zones.