A comparison of the macrophyte cover and macroinvertebrate fauna at three sites on the River Kennet in the mid 1970s and late 1990s

Wright, J. F.; Gunn, R.J.M.; Winder, J.M.; Wiggers, R.; Vowles, Ken; Clarke, Ralph T.; Harris, I.

doi:10.1016/s0048-9697(01)00948-2

Cited by 51 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Thames Water installed a pilot phosphate removal plant at Marlborough STW in autumn 1997, and from spring 1998 onwards growth of Ranunculus at both Savernake study sites has been spectacular. The relative importance of nutrient reduction and the higher discharge regime following the drought of 1996/97 is not entirely clear, but the balance of informed opinion favours a dominant role for discharge regime (Neal et al, 2002;Wade et al, 2002a,b;Wright et al, 2002b). Additional information on faunal changes at the two Savernake sites between 1997 and 1998 appeared in Wright et al (2002b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of major changes in flow regime on the macroinvertebrate assemblages of four chalk stream sites, 1997–2001

Wright

Clarke

Gunn

et al. 2004

River Research & Apps

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The macroinvertebrate assemblages of three unshaded sites on the River Kennet and one shaded site on the River Lambourn in Berkshire, England, were sampled in summer 1997-2001. Quantitative samples were taken on gravel and on the dominant macrophyte at each site in each year and abundance data were recorded for 57 families of macroinvertebrates. The study commenced during a major drought (1997), but in subsequent years discharge prior to sampling was much higher, culminating in the exceptionally high flows of spring 2001. Both family richness and abundance varied significantly in relation to site, habitat and year. Multidimensional scaling ordination, based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarities, also displayed significant differences between sites, habitats and years. Differences in composition between the Kennet sites were partly due to longitudinal zonation whilst on the Lambourn, faunal differences resulted from shading and the addition of families from nearby habitats, including marginal vegetation. Major changes took place in family composition and abundance between the drought year of 1997 and 1998, indicating that faunal recovery from drought was rapid. Thereafter, faunal changes between 1998 and 2000 were relatively limited. In 2001, following the prolonged period of exceptionally high discharge, overall family richness peaked on both habitats at the three Kennet sites and family abundance reached peak or second highest values on all four sites and both habitats. Thus, the recent high discharge regimes experienced by these perennial chalk stream sites have had no immediate detrimental consequences for the macroinvertebrate assemblages.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of major changes in flow regime on the macroinvertebrate assemblages of four chalk stream sites, 1997–2001

Wright

Clarke

Gunn

et al. 2004

River Research & Apps

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“…In the last decade, there have been increasing concerns about perceived ecological deterioration, particularly poor growth of Ranunculus downstream of Marlborough, accompanied by unsightly growth of epiphytes (Wright, 2002). Concerns have focused on the protracted droughts that occurred in 1991-2 and 1996-7, on water abstraction pressures and on declines in water quality associated with reduced capacity for dilution of effluent from Marlborough Sewage Treatment Works (STW) .…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

A nitrogen model for European catchments: INCA, new model structure and equations

Wade

Durand²,

Beaujouan³

et al. 2002

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

269

245

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A new version of the Integrated Nitrogen in Catchments model (INCA) was developed and tested using flow and streamwater nitrate concentration data collected from the River Kennet during 1998. INCA is a process-based model of the nitrogen cycle in the plant/soil and instream systems. The model simulates the nitrogen export from different land-use types within a river system, and the in-stream nitrate and ammonium concentrations at a daily time-step. The structure of the new version differs from the original, in that soil-water retention volumes have been added and the interface adapted to permit multiple crop and vegetation growth periods and fertiliser applications. The process equations are now written in terms of loads rather than concentrations allowing a more robust tracking of mass conservation when using numerical integration. The new version is able to reproduce the seasonal dynamics observed in the streamwater nitrogen concentration data, and the loads associated with plant/soil system nitrogen processes reported in the literature. As such, the model results suggest that the new structure is appropriate for the simulation of nitrogen in the River Kennet and an improvement on the original model. The utility of the INCA model is discussed in terms of improving scientific understanding and catchment management.

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“…These data are freely available from the CEH Environmental Information Data Centre portal at 20 https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/8e23a86b-6b54-4564-9789-23f4b4e045ea (Neal et al, 2012). Extensive biological surveys of phytoplankton (Lack, 1971;Lack and Berrie, 1975), macrophytes (Flynn et al, 2002), macroinvertebrates (Wright et al, 2002), zooplankton (May and Bass, 1998) and fish stocks (Mann et al, 1972) have also been conducted across the catchment since the 1960s.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Weekly water quality monitoring data for the River Thames (UK) and its major tributaries (2009–2013): The Thames Initiative research platform

Bowes¹,

Armstrong²,

Harman³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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The River Thames and 15 of its major tributaries have been monitored at weekly intervals since March 2009. Monitored determinands include major nutrient fractions, anions, cations, metals, pH, alkalinity and chlorophyll a., and linked to mean 10 daily river flows at each site. This catchment-wide biogeochemical monitoring platform captures changes in the water quality of the Thames basin during a period of rapid change, related to increasing pressures (due to a rapidly growing human population, increasing water demand and climate change) and improvements in sewage treatment processes and agricultural practises. The platform provides the research community with a valuable data and modelling resource for furthering our understanding of pollution sources and dynamics, and interactions between water quality and aquatic ecology. Comparing 15 Thames Initiative data with previous (non-continuous) monitoring data sets from many common study sites, dating back to 1997, has shown that there have been major reductions is phosphorus concentrations at most sites, occurring at low river flow, and these are principally due to reduced loadings from sewage treatment works. This ongoing monitoring programme will provide the vital underpinning environmental data required to best manage this vital drinking water resource, which is key for the sustainability of the city of London and the wider UK economy.

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A comparison of the macrophyte cover and macroinvertebrate fauna at three sites on the River Kennet in the mid 1970s and late 1990s

Cited by 51 publications

References 17 publications

Impact of major changes in flow regime on the macroinvertebrate assemblages of four chalk stream sites, 1997–2001

Impact of major changes in flow regime on the macroinvertebrate assemblages of four chalk stream sites, 1997–2001

A nitrogen model for European catchments: INCA, new model structure and equations

Weekly water quality monitoring data for the River Thames (UK) and its major tributaries (2009–2013): The Thames Initiative research platform

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