EN IN SITU METOD FÖR MÄTNING AV FUNKTIONELL RESPONS PÅ NATURLIGA OCH STÖRDA EKOSYSTEM, An in situ Method for Measuring the Functional Activity of Natural and Disturbed Ecosystems
The functional response of natural communities to different types of disturbance was measured in an in situ continuous flow apparatus. From continuous registrations of oxygen, light, temperature and water flow functional parameters like respiration and production were calculated. Some examples of functional responses of filter feeder and Fucus vesiculosus communities to cadmium and antifouling paint containing tributyltin (TBT) respectively are given. Changes in ratios of GP/R, O/N and O/P as well as perturbation index (PI) and absolute disturbance index (ADI) are used as sensitive measures of sublethal stress effects. These indexes rather than specific values of respiration, excretion or other parameters seem to be most suitable in bio-assay studies since synchronic changes due to light, temperature and salinity are reduced and weight determinations of organisms are not always needed.