KiEco Freshwater Ecology: Diatoms - Geospatial
Freshwater diatoms (phytobenthos) are free-living microscopic plants that form a biofilm on submerged substrates such as rock/stone or large plants. They are used as an indicator of water quality because their silica shells are easy to identify under the microscope.
This dataset is made up of the relative abundance of different species within the sample from freshwater diatom surveys conducted across Wales by Natural Resources Wales and former Environment Agency Wales. These surveys are conducted as part of on-going monitoring of river water quality for legislative requirements and to meet business drivers.
- Identification
- Extent
- Distribution
- Quality
- Keywords
- Spatial Reference System
- Content
- Constraints
- Maintenance
- Metadata
Identification
- Identifier
- NRW_DS125742
- Alternative Title
-
- KiEco Freshwater Diatom Taxa.lyr
- KiEco Freshwater Diatom Site Details.lyr
- KiEco Freshwater Diatom Sample Metrics.lyr
- NRW Freshwater Phytobenthos - Diatoms
- Metadata Language
- English
- Lineage
-
Strict methodology is applied when sampling for freshwater diatoms. Diatom sampling is carried out as part of the routine freshwater ecology programme for a number of different reasons (WFD, Water Resources, ECN etc). These sites may be added to for investigative work, or on an ad hoc basis. Sampling areas are located with a larger survey area and must be representative of the overall survey area. A stone scrape method is the most commonly used method for sampling freshwater diatoms. However, where necessary alternative methods are used, for example in areas with no suitable substrate. Natural Resources Wales collect and analyse in excess of 350 diatom samples from rivers and lakes every year. Once samples are collected they analysed by NRW freshwater ecologists.
Redactions
Some information has be redacted to make the data openly available. This includes
Third party data
Data collected for ongoing investigations
Cancelled or incomplete surveys
Update Frequency
This data is continually updated with the most surveys undertaken in the spring and autumn. Data from survey seasons is often not enter at the time of capture and can be several months before its is entered into the system. The external dataset is updated monthly to include new data, and may also contain corrections to previously published data due to quality assurance work.
Information Warnings
We do our best to avoid data quality problems, but as these datasets reflect the data we hold, they may contain errors.
There is currently an error within system which means some TDI values are calculated incorrectly and give negative values. This issue has been identified by our developers and will be corrected in the next system update.
The data is provided as a set of related data tables due to the quantity and structure of the data. A basic understanding of ecology and relational data is assumed.
Data related to pollution incident investigations or protected species information is not released as locational information of these sites may be detrimental to ongoing investigations or species protection.
- Dataset Reference Date (Publication)
- 2025-05-06
Temporal Extent
- Begin date
- 1997-01-01 After
- Topic category
-
- Biota
Extent
Extent
- Geographic Extent
- Wales (WLS)
))
Distribution
Distribution
- Format Type and Description
-
-
Geographic Information System
(
1
)
- Specification
-
ESRI Feature Class
-
Database
(
)
- Specification
-
Original Data held in WISKI Database
-
Geographic Information System
(
1
)
- Resource Locator
- WMS ( OGC:WMS )
- Resource Locator
- View and Download Service ( WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link )
Quality
Data quality
- Quality Scope
- Dataset
- Conformity
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services
- Explanation
-
This dataset has not been assessed for conformance to the referenced INSPIRE regulation.
- Degree
- false
- Lineage
-
Strict methodology is applied when sampling for freshwater diatoms. Diatom sampling is carried out as part of the routine freshwater ecology programme for a number of different reasons (WFD, Water Resources, ECN etc). These sites may be added to for investigative work, or on an ad hoc basis. Sampling areas are located with a larger survey area and must be representative of the overall survey area. A stone scrape method is the most commonly used method for sampling freshwater diatoms. However, where necessary alternative methods are used, for example in areas with no suitable substrate. Natural Resources Wales collect and analyse in excess of 350 diatom samples from rivers and lakes every year. Once samples are collected they analysed by NRW freshwater ecologists.
Redactions
Some information has be redacted to make the data openly available. This includes
Third party data
Data collected for ongoing investigations
Cancelled or incomplete surveys
Update Frequency
This data is continually updated with the most surveys undertaken in the spring and autumn. Data from survey seasons is often not enter at the time of capture and can be several months before its is entered into the system. The external dataset is updated monthly to include new data, and may also contain corrections to previously published data due to quality assurance work.
Information Warnings
We do our best to avoid data quality problems, but as these datasets reflect the data we hold, they may contain errors.
There is currently an error within system which means some TDI values are calculated incorrectly and give negative values. This issue has been identified by our developers and will be corrected in the next system update.
The data is provided as a set of related data tables due to the quantity and structure of the data. A basic understanding of ecology and relational data is assumed.
Data related to pollution incident investigations or protected species information is not released as locational information of these sites may be detrimental to ongoing investigations or species protection.
Keywords
Keywords
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2008-06-01
Keywords
-
NRW Thesaurus
-
- freshwater (fresh water, open water) (see also freshwater ecology) (see also inland waters,rivers,lakes)
- freshwater ecology
- freshwater biology
- chrysophycota
- diatoms
- NBN Atlas
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2025-01-08
Spatial Reference System
Content
Content Information
NRW Profile
Custom Elements
Constraints
Constraints
Limitations on Public Access and Use
- Restriction type
- Other restrictions
Access Constraints Directive
- Limitations
- no limitations
Access Constraints Text
- Other constraints
-
There are no access restrictions on this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely.
Use Constraints
- Use constraints type
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
-
© 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.
Attribution Statement
- Other constraints
-
Contains Natural Resources Wales information © Natural Resources Wales and Database Right. All rights Reserved.
Licence
- Other constraints
- Open Government Licence
Metadata
Metadata
- File Identifier
- 4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313235373432 XML
- Metadata Language
- English
- Resource type
- Dataset
- Metadata Date
- 2025-05-07T09:10:21.561Z
- Metadata Standard Name
- NRW
- Metadata Standard Version
-
1.0