Integrating monitoring, expert knowledge and habitat management within conservation organisations for the delivery of the water framework directive: A proposed approach

RESUMEN. Existe una creciente necesidad de entender mejor la naturaleza de las relaciones entre los atributos ambientales y las comunidades/especies de agua dulce para poder desarrollar acciones apropiadas que minimicen el impacto del cambio ambiental en los ecosistemas fluviales. Tal entendimiento necesitaría estar basado en investigaciones de relaciones causales más que en estudios de correlaciones estadísticas, como se acostumbra. Otro aspecto es la identificación de la escala a la cual los procesos y las características deben ser medidas para permitir un diseño de programas de monitoreo relevante. En este artículo se presenta una breve revisión de los conocimientos existentes sobre las relaciones especies/hábitat y se discuten los marcos teóricos existentes para la identificación de las características ambientales de importancia para la fauna y la determinación de la escala/s a la que deben evaluarse. Asimismo, proponemos un método para utilizar esas relaciones en el contexto de la supervisión y las prácticas de gestión en las organizaciones de conservación. Mostramos como modelos conceptuales de relaciones entre hábitats y especies pueden ser construidos usando el conocimiento existente y la opinión de expertos y como pueden ser testados utilizando datos recogidos como parte de los programas de monitoreo en las instituciones encargadas de la conservación. Sugerimos que tal marco, si aplicado, podría no sólo ayudar a identificar relaciones causales entre especies, características y procesos actuando a varias escalas, sino también para iniciar un proceso de adquisici´on de conocimiento en las instituciones responsables de la implementación de la Directiva Marco del Agua.ABSTRACT. There is a growing necessity to better understand the nature of the relationships between environmental attributes and freshwater species/communities to enable meaningful action to take place against the impacts of environmental change in river ecosystems. Such understanding would need to be based on the investigations of causal relationships rather than the study of statistical correlations or the use of expert opinion as is generally the case. Another issue is in identifying the scale(s) at which process and features should be recorded and assessed to enable the design of relevant monitoring programs. In this paper, we present a short review of existing knowledge on species/habitat relationships and discuss the importance of adequate theoretical frameworks for identifying environmental features of importance to wildlife and determining the scale/s at which they should be assessed.We further propose an approach for eliciting those relationships within the context of monitoring and management practice in conservation organisations. We show how conceptual models of habitat-species relationships can be built using existing knowledge and expert opinion and tested on data collected as part of existing monitoring programs. We suggest such framework, if applied, could not only help identify causal relationships between species, features and processes acting at various scales, but also initiate a knowledge acquisition process within organisations responsible for the delivery of the Water Framework Directive

Predicting nature recovery for river restoration planning and ecological assessment: a case study from England, 1991–2042

The Global Biodiversity Framework established ambitious goals for nature recovery which governments must now incorporate into national legislation. In England, legally binding targets require authorities to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and reverse the decline by 2042. Riverine invertebrates represent a substantial proportion of the species contributing towards the targets. Thus, understanding the response of these species to potential river restoration actions is key to target delivery. We model counts for 188 riverine invertebrate taxa using zero-inflated generalized Poisson models, applying the models to both inform river restoration planning and set expected values for use in ecological assessment. We identify catchment-specific restoration strategies that combine one or more actions involving the removal of channel modifications, reductions in nitrate concentrations and reductions in total dissolved phosphorus concentrations as the most likely to deliver species abundance targets across three joint climate–socioeconomic scenarios. By hindcasting species abundances under alternative target frameworks, we also demonstrate a new approach to setting expected values in ecological assessment, accounting for changes in water temperature and hydrology that confound historical reference models presently used by regulators. Our findings represent the first systematic attempt to prioritise major actions to deliver species abundance targets in England, providing valuable insights for policymakers, river restoration practitioners and authorities responsible for monitoring river ecosystems

Mapping habitat indices across river networks using spatial statistical modelling of River Habitat Survey data

Freshwater ecosystems are declining faster than their terrestrial and marine counterparts because of physical pressures on habitats. European legislation requires member states to achieve ecological targets through the effective management of freshwater habitats. Maps of habitats across river networks would help diagnose environmental problems and plan for the delivery of improvement work. Existing habitat mapping methods are generally time consuming, require experts and are expensive to implement. Surveys based on sampling are cheaper but provide patchy representations of habitat distribution. In this study, we present a method for mapping habitat indices across networks using semi-quantitative data and a geostatistical technique called regression kriging. The method consists of the derivation of habitat indices using multivariate statistical techniques that are regressed on map-based covariates such as altitude, slope and geology. Regression kriging combines the Generalised Least Squares (GLS) regression technique with a spatial analysis of model residuals. Predictions from the GLS model are ‘corrected’ using weighted averages of model residuals following an analysis of spatial correlation. The method was applied to channel substrate data from the River Habitat Survey in Great Britain. A Channel Substrate Index (CSI) was derived using Correspondence Analysis and predicted using regression kriging. The model explained 74% of the main sample variability and 64% in a test sample. The model was applied to the English and Welsh river network and a map of CSI was produced. The proposed approach demonstrates how existing national monitoring data and geostatistical techniques can be used to produce continuous maps of habitat indices at the national scale

Seeking river restoration appraisal best practice: supporting wider national and international

With growing investment in river restoration, we increasingly need to justify costs by demonstrating success and wider benefits of measures. To aid practitioners, the UK River Restoration Centre (RRC) has worked with experts to develop a practical monitoring guidance (PRAGMO) that links objectives to specific monitoring to demonstrate achievable outcomes. Feedback, however, via an on‐line questionnaire highlighted the need to rationalise the guidance contents for a new growing audience, taking advantage of new developments and incorporating the evaluation of social and economic aspects of river restoration. With these potential improvements, it is hoped that practitioners will follow this guidance, improve the quality of monitoring undertaken and share evidence of success and lessons learnt. This paper outlines how this guidance has been adopted as best practice. We discuss why we need to embed this guidance into wider monitoring protocols that can feed into national and international environmental policy and targets

Best Practices for Monitoring and Assessing the Ecological Response to River Restoration

Nature-based solutions are widely advocated for freshwater ecosystem conservation and restoration. As increasing amounts of river restoration are undertaken, the need to understand the ecological response to different measures and where measures are best applied becomes more pressing. It is essential that appraisal methods follow a sound scientific approach. Here, experienced restoration appraisal experts review current best practice and academic knowledge to make recommendations and provide guidance that will enable practitioners to gather and analyse meaningful data, using scientific rigor to appraise restoration success. What should be monitored depends on the river type and the type and scale of intervention. By understanding how habitats are likely to change we can anticipate what species, life stages, and communities are likely to be affected. Monitoring should therefore be integrated and include both environmental/habitat and biota assessments. A robust scientific approach to monitoring and appraisal is resource intensive. We recommend that appraisal efforts be directed to where they will provide the greatest evidence, including ‘flagship’ restoration schemes for detailed long-term monitoring. Such an approach will provide the evidence needed to understand which restoration measures work where and ensure that they can be applied with confidence elsewhere

Defining recovery potential in river restoration: a biological data-driven approach

Scientists and practitioners working on river restoration have made progress on understanding the recovery potential of rivers from geomorphological and engineering perspectives. We now need to build on this work to gain a better understanding of the biological processes involved in river restoration. Environmental policy agendas are focusing on nature recovery, reigniting debates about the use of “natural” reference conditions as benchmarks for ecosystem restoration. We argue that the search for natural or semi-natural analogues to guide restoration planning is inappropriate due to the absence of contemporary reference conditions. With a catchment-scale case study on the invertebrate communities of the Warwickshire Avon, a fifth-order river system in England, we demonstrate an alternative to the reference condition approach. Under our model, recovery potential is quantified based on the gap between observed biodiversity at a site and the biodiversity predicted to occur in that location under alternative management scenarios. We predict that commonly applied restoration measures such as reduced nutrient inputs and the removal of channel resectioning could be detrimental to invertebrate diversity, if applied indiscriminately and without other complementary measures. Instead, our results suggest considerable potential for increases in biodiversity when restoration measures are combined in a way that maximises biodiversity within each water bod

Small Water Bodies in Great Britain and Ireland: Ecosystem function, human-generated degradation, and options for restorative action

© 2018 Small, 1st and 2nd-order, headwater streams and ponds play essential roles in providing natural flood control, trapping sediments and contaminants, retaining nutrients, and maintaining biological diversity, which extend into downstream reaches, lakes and estuaries. However, the large geographic extent and high connectivity of these small water bodies with the surrounding terrestrial ecosystem makes them particularly vulnerable to growing land-use pressures and environmental change. The greatest pressure on the physical processes in these waters has been their extension and modification for agricultural and forestry drainage, resulting in highly modified discharge and temperature regimes that have implications for flood and drought control further downstream. The extensive length of the small stream network exposes rivers to a wide range of inputs, including nutrients, pesticides, heavy metals, sediment and emerging contaminants. Small water bodies have also been affected by invasions of non-native species, which along with the physical and chemical pressures, have affected most groups of organisms with consequent implications for the wider biodiversity within the catchment. Reducing the impacts and restoring the natural ecosystem function of these water bodies requires a three-tiered approach based on: restoration of channel hydromorphological dynamics; restoration and management of the riparian zone; and management of activities in the wider catchment that have both point-source and diffuse impacts. Such activities are expensive and so emphasis must be placed on integrated programmes that provide multiple benefits. Practical options need to be promoted through legislative regulation, financial incentives, markets for resource services and voluntary codes and actions

Factors affecting the design and implementation of decision support systems within organisations: lessons from two case studies with the environment agency, England and Wales

Decision Support Systems (DSS) are computer tools that combine models and data, to a user interface to help decision-makers solve complex problems. Despite their perceived usefulness, DSS are often not used. Past and recent reviews of existing decision support tools have shown a lack of implementation. Reasons behind their rejection were multiple, from poor design to more complex organisational and personal issues. Researchers have advocated the use of a more user-centred design framework for DSS development. A series of approaches aimed at involving users in the design process have been developed and applied with mixed results.In this thesis, I argue that DSS success or failure may be due to a lack of fit between the design process and the culture of the organisation in which it is being implemented. Through literature reviews on science, decision-making, DSS and organisational culture and two case studies, I show how the assumptions taken by scientists and DSS developers on decision-making and problem-solving become embedded within the systems they produce and may conflict with that of users.I further propose a novel approach that is centred on an understanding of the cultural system in which DSS will be used. The culture-centred iterative design approach is based on a constructivist theoretical perspective using methodologies borrowed from the social sciences. It follows an iterative design process such as that described by Sprague and Carlson (1982) with an embedded investigation of the working culture of the organisation. The study of culture is performed through group and individual interviews and aims at identifying areas of potential frictions between the DSS stated aims and user norms and values. The results from the analyses are then used to produce a DSS that will maximise outputs whilst minimising the risk of rejection.The approach was applied to the development of TooiHab, a DSS for prioritising habitat enhancement work on rivers for the Environment Agency Thames Region Fisheries section. The Environment Agency is a government organisation responsible for the management and regulation of river ecology, pollution, discharge, abstraction and for the protection of land and property against flooding.Through this case study, I show how the use of a cultural enquiry as part of the design process can lead to the resolution of potential conflicts and a greater acceptance of DSS

Open Rivers Network (ORN)

A free dataset providing connected, topologically-corrected watercourses in Great Britain. Open Rivers Network containing over 144,000 km of watercourses. This dataset is built upon a 2023 release of Open Rivers an Open dataset from the Ordnance Survey. The fully connected network was attributed with a range of geomorphological values and provides a framework for sampling and extracting information at site level. A secondary site layer mapping 500m spaced points across the entire network provides point based attribution for detailed river analysis.</span

Assessing the progress of river restoration in the UK: has biophysical condition improved over two decades of intervention?

Biophysical condition is one indicator of the immediate success of efforts to restore degraded rivers as well as longer-term progress towards improving water quality. In the context of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the biophysical condition of river systems in the UK also reflects how well international environmental policy translates into improved river management domestically. We assess whether the condition of river systems in the UK has improved or declined over the past two decades, whether regions identified by the first WFD assessment have improved or declined, and thus, how effectively international policy has been implemented nationally. Methods include: statistical and spatial analysis of more than 25,000 habitat condition records collated in the River Habitat Survey over the 1990s and 2000s; computing of an Index of Change for Local Authorities; and comparison of Indices of Change with a sub-sample of 1,727 WFD assessments conducted in 258 Local Authorities. Findings include that three of four measures indicate that biophysical quality has declined, although only decline in one measure (habitat quality) was statistically significant. Riparian quality has improved, although measures do not consider invasive compared to native coverage. In total, 27 regions were identified with the worst declining quality. Comparative analysis of regions suggest that condition has declined most substantially in regions that were previously in ‘good’ condition. Priorities for future investment include improving degraded sites, protecting high quality sites, and increasing monitoring of ‘data poor’ regions. Our methodology offers an approach for utilising ‘messy’ routinely collated data like the RHS. However, guidelines are needed to support the use of similar datasets for the international river restoration community