Sentinels in the environment.

Sentinel species are used to inform us about environmental processes that are too difficult or too expensive to measure directly. In conservation biology, an ideal sentinel species is a large-bodied, wide-ranging creature occupying top positions in local food webs.

Historically sentinel species were used on a presence-absence basis, much like a canary in a coal mine. Unfortunately, by the time such a sentinel vanished to indicate that a habitat was deteriorating, it was too late to save what remained.

In the aquatic realm, a different choice of species would be more appropriate so that we can detect when habitats are becoming degraded long before the top predator species disappears; when there is still plenty of time to work with local wildlife managers to save these habitats.

 
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