Biosurveys are used by government agencies responsible for management of public lands, environmental planning and/or environmental
regulation to assess ecological resources, such as
rivers,
streams,
lakes and
wetlands. They involve collection and analysis of animal and/or plant samples which serve as
bioindicators. The studies may be conducted by professional scientists or volunteer organizations. They are conducted according to published procedures to ensure consistency in data collection and analysis, and to compare findings to established metrics. Biosurveys typically use metrics such as
species composition and richness (e.g. number of species, extent of pollution-tolerant species), and ecological factors (number of individuals, proportion of
predators, presence of disease). Biosurveys may identify
pollution problems that are difficult or expensive to detect using
chemical testing procedures. A biosurvey may be used to generate an
index of biological integrity (IBI), a scoring system for an ecological resource. ==Water resource biosurveys==