ABSTRACT
Ecological assessments of sediment toxicity often use resident biota as indicators of sediment quality. For such an assessment to be successful, closely integrated biological, chemical, and physical data are required. Sediments integrate historical water quality, and thus, the spatial and temporal distribution of resident organisms can reflect the degree to which chemicals in the overlying water have been toxic. This chapter describes various approaches to the use of indigenous aquatic flora and fauna in assessing the toxicity of contaminated sediments in freshwater aquatic environments. It discusses the importance of experimental design and planning in conducting an assessment. The chapter presents a review of the techniques and measures known to be sensitive to changes in biota in lotic and in lentic waters, followed by a recommended set of approaches and methods. It concludes by presenting a set of research needs we think are important to advancing knowledge about the use of biotic community structure as an assessment technique for contaminated sediments.
