A biosurvey, or biological survey, is a scientific study of
organism
In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...
s to assess the condition of an
ecological resource, such as a
water body.
Overview
Biosurveys are used by government agencies responsible for management of public lands, environmental planning and/or environmental
regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
to assess ecological resources, such as
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
s,
stream
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
s,
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
s and
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
s. 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
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
composition and richness (e.g. number of species, extent of pollution-tolerant species), and ecological factors (number of individuals, proportion of
predator
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
s, presence of disease). Biosurveys may identify
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
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
Protocols for conducting biosurveys of water resources have been published by state government agencies and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
(EPA). Agencies use these protocols to implement the
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...
. Similar protocols have been published by volunteer organizations.
[Izaak Walton League of America. Gaithersburg, M]
"Biological Stream Monitoring."
Accessed December 21, 2008.
See also
*
Bioassay
*
Biological integrity
*
Biomonitoring
*
Indicator species
A bioindicator is any species (an indicator species) or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example, copepods and other sma ...
*
Water pollution
Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water ...
*
Water quality
Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...
References
External links
Biological Assessment of Water Quality– US EPA
Guide to Aquatic Invertebrates - WV Save Our Streams Program*Online biomonitoring of water quality by a permanent record of bivalve molluscs' behavior and physiology (biological rhythms, growth rate, spawning, early warning), 24/7, worldwide: th
MolluSCAN ''eye''{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113173444/http://molluscan-eye.epoc.u-bordeaux1.fr/index.php?rubrique=accueil&lang=en , date=2016-11-13 project
Aquatic ecology
Bioindicators
Environmental science
Measurement of biodiversity
Water pollution