WTT Blog - Tagged with drought

What has happened to our young trout during all the recent 'abnormal' weather? It's a question I have heard discussed and been asked directly quite regularly of late, and I intend to post a response with a relatively local flavour, here on the blog, in the not too distant future. However, to pre empt that, I thought I would post some thoughts from my colleague in the south, Andy Thomas. Glaciers were still retreating from Cumbria when Andy first started working on rivers, so he's seen a thing or two....

Please note that this article was originally published in the WTT Summer Newsletter (one of the perks of being a member), and hence was written prior to the extended warm & dry period that subsequently ensued! 

At the WTT Annual Get Together earlier this year, I had the pleasure of bumping into a former MSc student of mine, Simon Whitton, who now works at Affinity Water and is collaborating with colleagues at Cranfield University, supervising PhD students of his own; a perfect opportunity for another guest blog or four! Since abstraction and chalk streams have hit the headlines repeatedly and this year especially, we should follow Mickaël's progress with interest (and that of Jess Picken too)....

Chalk streams are highly important ecosystems and are a fundamental component of the landscape in the south and east of England. They are hotspots of ecological diversity and support important fisheries for trout and dace amongst others. However, the water that feeds chalk streams originates from groundwater, which is under increasing pressure from abstraction to supply our expanding urban populations. This conflict puts chalk streams squarely in the sights of environmental regulators and water companies as they try to find the best ways to preserve the ecology and the water supply. Hence, my project is sponsored by Affinity Water, and the Environment Agency, and is a part of Cranfield University’s Industrial Partnership PhD studentship programme.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I posted the news article entitled ‘Where have the rivers gone?’

A typical British summer has since dropped a deluge of rain across much of the countryside, and with it, will wash away any thoughts of droughts and painfully low flows from most people’s minds. It’s exactly the same with flooding:-

Jess Picken was the first to contribute to our new series of guest blogs in which she outlined plans for her PhD. And clearly, she has been busy! She is back with an update already...

To recap on my previous post, numerous studies have reported that low flow reduces the density of salmonids within streams. What is not so well-known is what, or how, other parts of the salmonids’ ecosystem are also affected by low flow. Riverflies and other aquatic macroinvertebrates make up a large proportion of juvenile salmonid diet, which is subsequently reflected in salmonid growth rate, condition and survival. Understanding how the availability of these macroinvertebrates changes with reduced summer flow is important to help conserve fish species of high UK and European importance.

My life at the moment... macroinvertebrates down the microscope!

In the first of a new series from students actively involved in research relevant to wild trout, Jessica Picken from Queen Mary University of London summarises the aims of her PhD working with the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust and with CEFAS.

Climate change is considered to be the most critical disturbance imposed on natural systems on a global scale. Climate models predict that average temperatures in the UK will increase over the course of the next 50 years with the greatest warming in the south of England during summer months, and that annual average precipitation will reduce. However, the reduction in precipitation is expected to be more pronounced during summer than winter, whereas extreme winter precipitation is expected to become more frequent. In other words, there is likely to be an overall shift towards drier summers but wetter winters.