The Foundation for Water Research (FWR), in partnership with the Freshwater Biological Association (FBA), has published a free practitioner’s guide to improving and protecting river health.
The guide, written by John Murray-Bligh and Martin Griffiths, provides an overview of the biological and ecological methods used to asses the status of the freshwater environment, with the aim of improving river health.
The focus is on river invertebrate methodologies and on status classification using UK RIVPACS (River Invertebrate Prediction and Classification System) to provide a working example of what is needed to set up a biological monitoring programme for a national initiative, a river catchment or a specific tributary.
Dr Eric Valentine, Chair of FWR, who provides the foreword to the handbook said:
“It is a unique document providing access to the policy, regulation, guidance, practical and operational methods for assessing ecosystem health.”
Simon Johnson, Executive Director, FBA, said:
“Open access to information will allow the partnerships necessary to improve our rivers and lakes. There is no doubt that high biodiversity in healthy rivers and lakes is a key indicator of the sustainable water resource management to which we must aspire.”
The Freshwater Biology and Ecology Handbook is available as an onscreen web book, or can be downloaded as high res (160mb) or low res (75mb) pdf files.
