Macrophyte Survey of Welsh Lakes 2016
This project set out to collect, process and supply to Natural Resources Wales (NRW), ecological and environmental data from a network of 14 lake sites across Wales, in support of NRW's integrated monitoring programme for protected sites (Special Areas of Conservation and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)), the Water Framework Directive, Nitrates Directive, Biodiversity Action Plans and other legislative and policy drivers. In particular the surveys are aimed at informing management and restoration of protected sites and facilitating delivery of River Basin Management Plans. Using standard methods, lakes were surveyed to assess the species and abundance of aquatic plants growing within and directly around the lake and to measure water clarity, dissolved oxygen and temperature within the lakes. The results of the aquatic plant surveys are suitable for the purposes of assessing site condition for Habitats Directive standing water features and SSSI status. The lake metrics are applicable for the production of ecological quality ratios from which the lakes may be classified in accordance with the requirements of Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC).
- Identification
- Extent
- Distribution
- Quality
- Keywords
- Spatial Reference System
- Content
- Constraints
- Maintenance
- Metadata
Identification
- Identifier
- NRW_DS119140
- Alternative Title
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- Ecological Surveys of Welsh Lakes 2016
- Arolygon Ecolegol o Lynnoedd Cymru 2016
- Metadata Language
- English
- Lineage
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The full description of the survey methods used to collect macrophyte data are detailed in the Joint Nature Conservation Committee publication for the CSM guidance for standing waters (JNCC 2015). In brief, the plant surveys consisted of four components: a strandline survey of species uprooted and washed to the shore; a survey of the emergent and marginal species; a wader survey of the shallow littoral zone to approximately 1.0 m; and a boat survey encompassing species in open water and extending to the point of maximum colonization. Surveys were carried out at each site on up to four discrete 100 m sections of shoreline which were considered representative of the lake and gave good geographical coverage. To reduce disturbance, a maximum of 25% of the shoreline was surveyed, resulting in fewer than four sections being surveyed at smaller lakes. Where lakes had previously been surveyed, transect locations used in the past were re-surveyed to maximise comparability between surveys. These methods were devised to provide quantitative species-abundance data that can be obtained in a pragmatic and repeatable manner. Additional efforts such as sampling drift line flora were made to record other species which did not occur in any of the survey sections. The survey did not aim to produce a complete species list for the lake. Dissolved oxygen concentration and temperature profiles were taken at the deepest recorded point of each site on the same dates as the macrophyte surveys. Secchi disc depths were recorded at the time of the macrophyte surveys from the deepest point of all lakes and further measurements taken at each survey section at sites where variability in water clarity was observed. Catchment data, land cover and general lake data that are quoted in the text are taken from the original UK Lakes database (Hughes et al. 2004) and the new UK Lakes administered by CEH (CEH 2017).
- Additional Information
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Shilland EM, Goldsmith BJ, Hatton-Ellis TW. (2017), Ecological Surveys of Welsh Lakes 2016, NRW Evidence Report No 204. 73 pp, Natural Resources Wales, Bangor.
- Dataset Reference Date (Publication)
- 2017-02-28
Temporal Extent
- Begin date
- 2016-09-13
- End date
- 2016-10-03
- Topic category
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- Inland waters
- Environment
Extent
Extent
- Geographic Extent
- Wales (WLS)
))
Distribution
- Format Type and Description
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Database
Database
()
- Specification
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[A] The final report [NRW_Ecological_Surveys_of_Welsh_Lakes_2016_Final.docx] in Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF formats. [B] Leafpacs calculator files within folder [NRW_2016_Leafpacs_Data] in Microsoft Excel format [Lake_name_LEAFPACS 2 0_metriccalculator_Month_Year] and summary information in MS Excel format [Site_metrics_Summary_2016.xls] [C] A full set of digital photographs from the surveys in [jpg] format in folder [NRW_2016_Section_Photos] and sub-folders [<site_name_WBID>]. [D] A species list for all sites in MS Excel format suitable for upload to Recorder [NRW_2016_Lake_Species_Data_Recorder.xls].
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Database
Database
()
Quality
Data quality
- Quality Scope
- Dataset
- Lineage
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The full description of the survey methods used to collect macrophyte data are detailed in the Joint Nature Conservation Committee publication for the CSM guidance for standing waters (JNCC 2015). In brief, the plant surveys consisted of four components: a strandline survey of species uprooted and washed to the shore; a survey of the emergent and marginal species; a wader survey of the shallow littoral zone to approximately 1.0 m; and a boat survey encompassing species in open water and extending to the point of maximum colonization. Surveys were carried out at each site on up to four discrete 100 m sections of shoreline which were considered representative of the lake and gave good geographical coverage. To reduce disturbance, a maximum of 25% of the shoreline was surveyed, resulting in fewer than four sections being surveyed at smaller lakes. Where lakes had previously been surveyed, transect locations used in the past were re-surveyed to maximise comparability between surveys. These methods were devised to provide quantitative species-abundance data that can be obtained in a pragmatic and repeatable manner. Additional efforts such as sampling drift line flora were made to record other species which did not occur in any of the survey sections. The survey did not aim to produce a complete species list for the lake. Dissolved oxygen concentration and temperature profiles were taken at the deepest recorded point of each site on the same dates as the macrophyte surveys. Secchi disc depths were recorded at the time of the macrophyte surveys from the deepest point of all lakes and further measurements taken at each survey section at sites where variability in water clarity was observed. Catchment data, land cover and general lake data that are quoted in the text are taken from the original UK Lakes database (Hughes et al. 2004) and the new UK Lakes administered by CEH (CEH 2017).
Keywords
Keywords
Keywords
- NRW Thesaurus
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- Lakes (Limnology)
- Water Framework Directive (WFD)
- Habitats Directive (Directive 92/43/EEC) (EC Habitats Directive) (European Community Habitats Directive)
- SSSI (Sites of Special Scientific Interest)
- monitoring (see specific types of monitoring eg. woodland monitoring)
- aquatic plants (water plants)
- LEAFPACS
- dissolved oxygen
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2023-12-31
Spatial Reference System
Content
Content Information
NRW Profile
Custom Elements
- NRW Related Title
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Ecological surveys of Welsh lakes 2016
Constraints
Constraints
Limitations on Public Access and Use
- Restriction type
- Other restrictions
Access Constraints Directive
- Limitations
- no limitations
Access Constraints Text
- Other constraints
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There are no access restrictions to this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely.
Use Constraints
- Use constraints type
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
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© CNC/NRW Data may be re-used under the terms of the Open Government Licence providing it is done so, acknowledging both the source and NRW's copyright. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose.
Metadata
Metadata
- File Identifier
- 4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313139313430 XML
- Metadata Language
- English
- Parent Identifier
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Welsh Lakes Survey and Monitoring
NRW_DS123035
- Resource type
- Dataset
- Metadata Date
- 2024-05-31T09:26:31.222Z
- Metadata Standard Name
- NRW
- Metadata Standard Version
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1.0