Riverfly Monitoring
Have you ever wondered how healthy your local river is? Invertebrate sampling is a great way for you to find out. Using invertebrates collected from in our rivers we can monitor water quality and highlight any pollution concerns.
The Tweed Foundation is a Riverfly Partnership’s (https://www.riverflies.org/) Riverfly Monitoring Initiative (RMI) hub through Buglife (https://www.buglife.org.uk/). Free training and equipment are provided for individuals or groups to become citizen scientists.
Monthly monitoring usually occurs from April to October by small groups throughout the Tweed and Eye catchments using standardised kick sampling methodology.
Riverfly monitoring is open to anyone with any level of knowledge; anglers, ecologists, or newcomers to the natural world are welcome to participate.
Check out our story maps for more details on what is involved, FAQs, and previous results https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/517fbde9d6924eab9a2b5813b3040d58?item=10
If you are interested in joining a group or want to get your own group set-up please get in touch with our volunteer coordinator, Erica, at echapman@tweedfoundation.org.uk
Preserved Macroinvertebrate Samples
Following the same field method of kick sampling, our biologists also collect and preserve macroinvertebrate samples, which includes riverflies, as part of our environmental consultancy services.
During the winter months these samples are processed. This involves sifting through water samples to remove all the animals. Animals are then identified to family level. This is a time consuming but interesting processes, and we would love your help. If you have an interest in seeing what lives in our rivers and have some time to spare let us know. No previous experience is needed, just decent eyesight (glasses allowed) and good fine motor skills. You can help for as little or as much as you would like. If you are interested send our volunteer coordinator an email at echapman@tweedfoundation.org.uk
