Freshwater Lamprey Survey Data
Citation
Natural Resources Wales (2023). Freshwater Lamprey Survey Data. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/zsv2ob accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-12-12.Description
River lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis), Brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri), and Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) are designated features of the River Usk and Wye Special Areas of Conservation (SAC). Assessments of species composition, distribution, abundance and size composition of larval lamprey (ammocoetes and transformers) populations in these river are of particular interest as an indication of Condition Assessment. The data was collected to help assess the conservation status of Lampreys in the Usk and Wye Catchments. This collation of lamprey data is made up of data collected by Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) and the Environment Agency Wales for CCW SAC monitoring reports or CCW Review of Consents reports. The collation includes information about species distribution, composition and abundance for river, brook and sea lampreys which are a designated (Annex II) features within SAC rivers in Wales. The majority of the data was recorded at the genus level and no distinction was made between river and brook lampreys. However for some historical data no distinction was made between sea and river/brook lampreys and these were recorded at the family level. This dataset comprises of a number of surveys entered into Recorder 6 which have been packaged for dissemination onto the NBN Atlas.
Purpose
The data was collated to help show the distribution of Lamprey species in Welsh SACs and to aid the reporting requirements of the Habitats Directive by publishing this data on the NBN Atlas.
Sampling Description
Quality Control
High. Recognised specialists carried out all work under contract to CCW and the Environment Agency.Method steps
- Lamprey populations and condition assessment was previously carried out by CCW in 2003 (Harvey and Cowx, 2003) and 2005 (Campbell et al., 2005). The field survey was conducted in 2012 by Environment Agency staff using the standard electrofishing methodology. A condition assessment is made using the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) Common Standards Monitoring Guidance for Freshwater Fauna. Quantitative quadrat surveys were carried out in both optimal (very silty) and sub-optimal (more rocky) habitats. Electric fishing techniques were used inside a 1m^2 quadrat to draw lamprey out of the silt rather than stunning and trapping them within the silt. Sampling of optimal habitats quadrats was done thee times whilst sub-optimal habitats were sampled once. The original data contains positive and negative samples.
Taxonomic Coverages
Geographic Coverages
Bibliographic Citations
Contacts
originatorNatural Resources Wales
metadata author
Natural Resources Wales
distributor
NBN Atlas
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administrative point of contact
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email: nbnadmin@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk