Bivalve molluscs as environmental monitors and tools for sustainable water management
type: CreativeWork
description: Freshwater environments are capable of providing a wide range of vital ecosystem services, from basic provision of drinking water to energy production, waste removal to recreation. Well-managed water resources allow such precious services to be preserved. However, anthropogenic influences have led to the widespread degradation of freshwater environments, resulting in extensive decline in freshwater organisms. With growing pressures on water resources, there is an increasing need for change: sustainable water management regimes are needed, to allow the water requirements of society to be met as far as is feasible both at the current time, and in the future. The improvement of monitoring capacity affords an effective tool for the protection and conservation of waterways, which represent key components of sustainable water management strategies. In situ physical and chemical sensing has allowed improved temporal and spatial resolution of water monitoring, yet the information they provide is limited, and key ecological information is lacking. This has encouraged the use of aquatic biota to provide direct information on the ecological state of a waterway. Such monitoring is beneficial, both to the protection of the health of aquatic ecosystems, and the human populations that rely upon them. Bivalve molluscs offer particular promise for the biomonitoring of aquatic systems. This thesis seeks to progress understanding and enable wider study of prominent means by which bivalves can, or may yet, provide insights into their environments. Production of a review explained the key behaviours of bivalves used in biosensing of water quality, and suggested means to enhance the informativeness of systems employing them, as well as other potential behaviours that could be valuable in biosensing, and future directions. Subsequently, a novel system was developed, demonstrating how the key behaviours used in biosensing, valve movements and cardiac activity, may both be simultaneously me…
abstract: Freshwater environments are capable of providing a wide range of vital ecosystem services, from basic provision of drinking water to energy production, waste removal to recreation. Well-managed water resources allow such precious services to be preserved. However, anthropogenic influences have led to the widespread degradation of freshwater environments, resulting in extensive decline in freshwater organisms. With growing pressures on water resources, there is an increasing need for change: sustainable water management regimes are needed, to allow the water requirements of society to be met as far as is feasible both at the current time, and in the future. The improvement of monitoring capacity affords an effective tool for the protection and conservation of waterways, which represent key components of sustainable water management strategies. In situ physical and chemical sensing has allowed improved temporal and spatial resolution of water monitoring, yet the information they provide is limited, and key ecological information is lacking. This has encouraged the use of aquatic biota to provide direct information on the ecological state of a waterway. Such monitoring is beneficial, both to the protection of the health of aquatic ecosystems, and the human populations that rely upon them. Bivalve molluscs offer particular promise for the biomonitoring of aquatic systems. This thesis seeks to progress understanding and enable wider study of prominent means by which bivalves can, or may yet, provide insights into their environments. Production of a review explained the key behaviours of bivalves used in biosensing of water quality, and suggested means to enhance the informativeness of systems employing them, as well as other potential behaviours that could be valuable in biosensing, and future directions. Subsequently, a novel system was developed, demonstrating how the key behaviours used in biosensing, valve movements and cardiac activity, may both be simultaneously me…
author: Vereycken, James
language: eng
keywords: Zoology, Aquatic Ecology, Bivalve molluscs, Water management, Biosensors, Water monitoring
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/a4ce4542-7fdd-4c7e-b0f5-3a9c85adef5c/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2023-09-01
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:14Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.108727