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Habitat Management News

Wildlife on the riverbank

Good management of stream and river banksides can contribute greatly to producing a diverse and abundant aquatic invertebrate community. A recently completed Environment Agency/NERC project, based at the Institute of Freshwater Ecology in Dorset and led by Patrick Armitage with Iain Harris, has been examining the role of vegetated riverbank habitats in river ecology. These habitats are of high invertebrate diversity and abundance, are vital areas for reproduction and adult emergence, provide protection from fish predation and high river flows and are areas where rarer species are often found.

The project report makes several recommendations for river management. Habitats within rivers and streams should be enhanced by allowing bankside plants that have fallen in to remain trailing in the water, allowing a mixed aquatic plant community to develop. Serious cattle damage to riverbanks should be reduced in order to improve bank integrity and plant cover. The return of marginal plants where they are absent should be encouraged by the reprofiling of banks and minimising human interference, such as frequent mowing. 'Complex' bankside habitat should be promoted by allowing areas of mixed plant structure and height together with patches of scrub and woodland to develop.

The report, The Role of Bankside Habitat in River Ecology (R&D Technical Report W198), is available for £10 inclusive of postage and packing from The Environment Agency R&D Dissemination Centre, c/o WRc, Frankland Road, Swindon SN5 8YF. Credit-card orders can be taken on 01793 865012 or faxed on 514562. Cheques should be crossed and made payable to WRC plc.

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