THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIMEN BANK: ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Ecosystem Assessment Division, Environmental Resources Research Department
National Institute of Environmental Research, Korea
ABSTRACT
The basic role of environmental specimen bank (ESB) is to collect, analyze, document, and preserve evidence of changes in specimen pollutants and quality for purposes of environmental monitoring. Such evidence provides a basis for retrospective analysis of environmental change and for assessing the effectiveness of previous environmental policies and development programs and projects.
ESBs were launched in Germany, USA, and Japan in 1979. Currently, they are being operated at 21 institutes in 17 countries. Korea’s National Environmental Specimen Bank (NESB) was established in 2009 at National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) to detect and track long-term changes in anthropogenic and natural pollutant loadings and their impact on natural and human ecosystems.
To this end the NESB has prepared guidelines for sampling and sample treatment of seven environmental specimens representing the main types of ecosystems: shoots of red pine (Pinus densiflora), Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis), Mongolian oak (Quercus mongolica), Zelkova tree (Zelkova serrata), domestic pigeon (Columba livia var. domestica), common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and freshwater mussel (Unio (Nodularia) douglasiae).
These specimens will be sampled from rivers, agricultural land, managed forests, urban areas and natural environment conservation areas. Samples are immediately subjected to cryogenic conditions then transported, milled and stored maintaining that condition. The specimens represent links in the food chain of the ecosystems for use as baseline indicators in assessing long-term environmental effects including climate change.
In addition, previously collected human specimens from NIER’s other projects, including blood, urine, and plasma will also be stored using the cryogenic facilities.
NESB will also be expected to bring an insight to environmental impact assessment which will eventually improve the reliability of environmental monitoring and impact assessment.
Key Words: National Environmental Specimen Bank (NESB), environmental monitoring, impact assessment
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