Scientific Research

By their very nature rivers connect landscapes, people, and the animals and plants that live in and around them.  From the headwaters high in the moors, to the estuary discharging into the sea, water quality and quantity is essential to life.

“How can science help?”

Flagship Species

Whatever life depends on rivers, be that people, fish, mammals, invertebrates and plants – it is impossible to simply manage individual species. One of the most productive approaches is to take much loved ‘signature’ or ‘flagship’ species e.g. Sea trout, water voles, or otters and work to protect them. This then motivates the stakeholders to work together to improve conditions for these signature species. 

Scale analysis 

This can be isotope  analysis where the oxygen isotopes in the collagen under the fish scales can tell us where fish has been feeding at sea.  It can also be DNA fingerprinting  where we can tell if fish in certain rivers form breeding populations.  When we have this information we can work to preserve the genetic diversity of these populations.

Fry Index Surveys

We can use special ‘electrofishing’ equipment to survey where in rivers Salmon and Sea trout are breeding.  This helps pinpoint areas in rivers that there are problems with spawning, a common issue with Salmonids (Salmon and Trout).

River Walkover Surveys

Walking the river and recording its characteristics and problems is a  hugely valuable resource.  Combining this with computer GIS (Geographical Information Services) gives us a real insight as what needs to be done on a river.