Definition of indicator speciesCategorized under "General"
Definition as written by Magpye:
A plant or animal species related to a particular kind of environment. Its presence indicates that specific habitat conditions are also present.
These are unique environmental indicators as they offer a signal of the biological condition in a watershed or ecosystem, and are a warning system that pollution has entered the food web.
They can be abundant or dominant in the community, and occasionally can be a keystone species. The term indicator species is a bit misleading, as indicators are often whole groups of flora/fauna types which can be used to assess environmental condition.
Most indicator species are fish, invertebrates, periphyton and macrophytes.
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