The following links provide a great deal of information about various specific groups of invertebrates living in aquatic habitats:
The Water Flea website:An introduction to Water Fleas and lake ecology.
http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/%7Eucfagls/thewaterflea/index.htmThe Virtual Pond Dip:
An introduction to microscopic pond life
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/ponddip/index.html The Freshwater Life site:
This site is a growing resource includes some downloadable keys
http://www.freshwaterlife.org/index.jsp The Freshwater Biological Association site:
Worth looking at for the range of keys available, although a full set would be very expensive.
http://www.fba.org.uk/index.html The Mayfly Recording Scheme website:
Information on studying Mayflies and descriptions of the 51 species found in the UK
http://www.ephemeroptera.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ CAMSTARS ~ The River Flies Recording Schemes website:
Information and contact details for Mayflies, Stoneflies & Caddis recording
http://www.brc.ac.uk/schemes/CAMSTARS/homepage.htm Heteroptera News
.. has information on aquatic bugs in several downloadable magazines
http://www.hetnews.org.uk COURSES IN 2010
This year I am running one four day general course
and three weekend courses on the identification of
specific invertebrate groups as follows:
Aquatic Beetles Weekend, 26th - 28th March
The
FSC website contains a course description with
the basic information about this weekend, though
it is worth reiterating here the importance of water
beetle identification when monitoring aquatic communities.
They are a large group which has been studied extensively
and can indicate a great deal about specific conditions
in the water body and, by the rarity of species found,
can inform you about the conservation value of your
site.
As indicated on the FSC leaflet about this course
the only commonly available key, the Aidgap publication
by Friday, is now out of print. A new key is in preparation
but it will be some time before this is published.
However, thanks to the generosity of FSC Publications
a ring bound facsimile will be available at cost
to students on my course. I have added to this facsimile
some extra notes of my own and species name changes
which have occurred since the key was published.
A good selection of preserved specimens from a variety
of sites will be available to ensure you are able
to examine and identify a wide range of the available
species, as there is limited time available for field
trips to collect specimens during the weekend.
In addition to being able to leave with a copy of
the key, students will also receive a cut down version
of my SAFIS software. This, providing you have a
copy of Microsoft Excel, allows you to type in a
species name or list of names. The spreadsheet then
outputs habitat and rarity information and also calculates
a site score using the Balfour Browne Club's Wetscore
system.
Four day Aquatic Invertebrates Course 12th - 15th April
This is the full four day course I have been running
for several years now. Field trips to local rivers
and to local ponds allow students to collect inverts
for later work in the lab at Flatford. If you bring
collecting tubes you can of course leave with the
start of your own voucher collection.
A very comprehensive
selection of both current and also older
keys can be used by students to practise, with
individual help, the identication of their catch.
This has proved very useful to many students in
gaining familiarity with a number of groups and
often has led to students deciding, on completion
of the course, to specialise in one or more favoured
groups. You are welcome to concentrate on your
own particular favourite group or get a general
overview of freshwater life.
By the last day the group will have amassed quite
a comprehensive species list from the sites visited
and we then cover several of the techniques which
have been devised to analyse freshwater sites.
This allows us to obtain several metrics or measurements
of the water quality and the conservation value
of the sites. Students will also leave with a full
trial copy of my shareware software called SAFIS
which automates all these metrics, requiring only
that the species list is pasted in before a full
report is output.
My second weekend course is on Identifying Caddis Larvae, 30th April - 2nd May
This course deals with a group which I consider
to be one of the most important in freshwater.
In terms of the number of species they are second
only to the water beetles and there are now several
really good keys to the larvae. Caddis larvae are
commonly found when netting ponds or kick sampling
rivers and are often found when hand searching
amongst stones and water plants. Many caddis are
quite specific in their habitat requirements and
hence they can be very helpful when analysing a
site.
Caddis do not all build cases and the various types
of caseless larvae will be covered as well as giving
students the opportunity to examine a wide range
of species building in a variety of styles and
materials. To this end a good selection of preserved
specimens from a variety of sites will be available
to ensure you are able to examine and identify
a wide range of the available species, as there
is limited time available for field trips to collect
specimens during a short weekend course.
Although some people feel that caddis are a difficult
group this is often caused by some rather specific
terminology within the keys and once these features
are demonstrated to students they find them
much less problematical. The Trichoptera are a
rewarding group to study which can be found in
every aquatic environment from woodland trickles
to mountain streams. They are a very useful addition
to any surveyor's portfolio of knowledge.
Identifying Freshwater Snails Weekend
8th - 10th October
This is a Professional Development Course accredited by The University of Birmingham
This course deals with the univalve freshwater
molluscs, the bivalves being omitted due to the
time constraints imposed in a weekend.
Although there will be limited time to go out and
collect snails a good selection of preserved
specimens from a variety of sites will be available
to ensure you are able to examine and identify
a wide range of the available species, and it is
also possible for you to bring along specimens
of your own which you have collected local to your
own home.
At present the only easily available key to freshwater
snails is a limited number of facsimile editions
of the Freshwater Biological Association's original
1977 publication. Whilst a new, simplified key
is in preparation from the FSC there is no publication
date as yet. Students on this course will receive
a copy of an unpublished but updated key with new
species to Britain and species name changes added
as well as habitat and conservation information.
This is a course accredited by the University of
Birmingham and as such counts towards their modular
degree. However you do not necessarily need to
be on the Birmingham course in order to come to
the weekend and
improve your identification skills in this important
group.
