Preface

摘要

Biomonitoring, in a general sense, refers to the set of techniques used for environmental assessment based on the use of living organisms. Some organisms accumulate atmospheric pollutants over certain periods of time, thus allowing discrimination of atmospheric quality levels through reliable analytical measurements. To such effect, organisms have to be suitably chosen, thus providing information on the integrated exposure over an extended period of time. Instrumental monitoring cannot simulate either complex atmospheric interactions or interception showed by biota, requiring in addition expensive technical equipment. Therefore, biomonitoring can be an effective tool for pollution monitoring with aims such as pollutant mapping and trend monitoring by real-time and retrospective analysis.