Activity of human population results in an increasingly polluted environment, presenting a global problem. Carnivores such as the red fox, European badger, brown bear, grey wolf, Eurasian lynx and Eurasian jackal can be used as bioindicators, especially to monitor the pollution with non-essential micro-minerals. Non-essential microminerals are not degraded within animals but accumulate in animal tissues and organs. Kidneys, liver, brain, teeth and hair are suitable organs for micromineral analyses. Tissue or organ is selected for the analyses based on the mineral which is accumulating in it and based on the mineral which is contaminating the study area. These are usually the liver, kidney and brain. Among carnivores, the omnivores are particularly suitable as bioindicator spoecies, as they also consume plants which accumulate mineral substances which are then accumulated in their tissues and organs. In addition to the choice of tissue and organ, the species of carnivore and the diet, the sex, age and season in which the animal was caught or organs were sampled are also important factors.
|