Project Page Views: [ 850 ]
| Project Metadata Element | Details |
| Project Title | Reference Conditions and Eutrophication Impacts in Irish Rivers: Meeting the Requirements of the Proposed EU Water Framework Directive |
| Research Area | Water |
| Project Acronym | |
| Principal Investigator or Lead Irish Partner | Aisling Walsh |
| Lead Institution or Organisation | University College Dublin (UCD) |
| Lead Country | Ireland |
| Latitude, Longitude (of Lead Institution) | 53.30859, -6.22577 |
| Lead Funding Entity | Environmental Protection Agency |
| Approximate Project Start Date | 25/09/2000 |
| Approximate Project Finishing Date | 25/12/2005 |
| Project Website (if any) | |
| Links to other Web-based resources | |
| Project Keywords | Rivers; Water Framework Directive; Reference Conditions |
| Project Abstract | The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires ecological assessment of Irish rivers relative to reference conditions. Because of human impacts on the environment, it can prove difficult to find pristine rivers of high ecological quality - a problem particularly prevalent in Europe's mainland. The EPA's River Quality Rating System has been used since 1970 for the ecological assessment of Irish rivers. This system provides a useful set of historical reference conditions for Irish rivers with, perhaps, Q5 representing reference conditions as defined by the Water Framework Directive. There is a need, however, for an in-depth analysis of the impacts of eutrophication on river ecosystems relative to the reference or pristine state. River water quality trends show that many rivers have declined in quality over the past 30 years. There has been a notable loss of species and widespread eutrophication of Irish rivers. In establishing reference conditions, therefore, understanding the detailed mechanisms by which eutrophication affects river ecology is of key importance in the Irish context. Project FS-2 has selected a number of near-pristine reference river sites for detailed study. These sites still have ideal conditions for the most sensitive macroinvertebrate taxa. In addition a range of sites which have departed from reference conditions in the recent past are being studied. These latter sites now lack the key sensitive taxa previously found there but they were close to pristine in surveys carried out in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s. The research is attempting to define the gradient from pristine to eutrophic in a range of river types in order to provide a thorough understanding of what constitutes true reference conditions across a range of river ecotypes within the Irish Ecoregion. The Irish Quality Rating System is particularly sensitive to eutrophication impacts. The changes in the early stages of eutrophication may be quite subtle, perhaps affecting the balance of algal species at the base of the food chain or affecting, for example, the physical nature of the environment through siltation. Thus, the study is attempting to obtain a more detailed understanding of such effects in order to be able to better define true reference conditions for rivers as required by the WFD. The project is being undertaken as an EPA Research Fellowship over three years beginning in October 2000 (enabling a graduate the opportunity to prepare a PhD thesis). The research fellow is working in conjunction with the EPA's river biologists. The project will benefit from liaison with other related research projects such as Fish Stocks and Q-values (MS-4) and the pilot project on Ecological Assessment of Lakes (FS-1). |