Biodiversity of Aquatic Insects
The Hertfordshire Natural History Society is collaborating with the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire and Environment Agency and the to assess the biodiversity and rarity of Aquatic Insects such as water beetles and caddisflies in the rivers and wetlands of the county.
Aquatic insects are very useful indicators of the health and quality of wetland habitats such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. The number and type of species found reflect the quality of both the water and the overall wetland habitat. In Hertfordshire, the North Thames Office of the Environment Agency has been identifying the insects found in rivers and
streams to species level but do not often survey ponds and lakes.Lecturers
Dr Stuart Warrington and Dr Ronni Edmonds-Brown, plus under-graduate project students, have been concentrating on surveying the lakes and ponds to increase the coverage of wetland habitats. Additional help has been provided by local experts David Leeming and Trevor James (HNHS Recorder for Beetles).
The information gained from the current survey can be added to historical data compiled by the Hertfordshire Natural History Society to assess changes in the status of species and habitats.
This project is currently focussing on water beetles (Coleoptera), water bugs (Heteroptera) and caddisflies (Trichoptera). There is also a parallel project looking at the dragonfly diversity organised by the Hertfordshire Natural History Society. Several important sites with high diversity and rarity for these species have been identified and this information will
help inform their management and protection. In addition, it is evident that we have lost some of the historically important sites, yet some new good sites have been found too, such as the flooded gravel pits of the Lee and Colne valleys.
If you want to know if your local pond or river has been surveyed yet, or want more information, Dr Ronni Edmonds-Brown, c/o Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Herts, AL10 9AB e:mail: V.R.Edmonds-Brown@herts.ac.uk
or Stuart Warrington (01707 284137 stuart.warrington@nationaltrust.org.uk ).
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