Metadata detail: NRW Freshwater Phytobenthos - Diatoms

Title

NRW Freshwater Phytobenthos - Diatoms

Abstract

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.

A 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.

Further Information:

Please see the following documents for further information

The taxa data can also be viewed and downloaded from the NBN Atlas. Accessing the taxa data this way offers several advantages. It can be viewed alongside a wide range of taxa from other surveys conducted by various individuals and organizations. Furthermore, the taxa can be explored through its full taxonomic hierarchy via integration with the UK Species Inventory, which is the most comprehensive curated database of UK wildlife taxonomy and nomenclature.

NBN Taxa Link

Attribution statement

Licence

Open Government Licence for Public Sector Information (OGL)

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Metadata : NRW Freshwater Phytobenthos - Diatoms

Identification

Redactions

Update Frequency

Information Warnings

Information

Features

Contact

References

OWS endpoints