Dataset Details - A national macroinvertebrate dataset collected for the biomonitoring of Ireland’s river network, 2007–2018 (EPA)
The data described here were originally collected for one purpose – to assess rivers nationwide to determine the quality of the macroinvertebrate communities across the country as part of the WFD ecological status assessment. These assessments indicate changes that pollution brings about in the benthic macroinvertebrate communities, i.e. larval insects (e.g. mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, beetles, etc.) together with crustaceans (e.g. shrimps), snails and bivalves, worms, and leeches. These changes reflect the varying sensitivities of the different groups of macroinvertebrates to the stresses caused by pollution, with sensitive species being progressively replaced by more tolerant forms as pollution increases.
04/03/2022
04/03/2022
Assessment of river biological quality
Please see open access publication Feeley et al. (2020) for full details. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-020-00618-8
Republic of Ireland
River macroinvertebrates are collected from June to September each year, 2007 to 2018, when flows are likely to be relatively low.
All data has undergone full quality control checking. Note taxonomic resolution may vary. More information is available in our open access publication Feeley et al. (2020). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-020-00618-8
The dataset is complete and inclusive of data collected 2007 to 2018.
A full description of data collection is available at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-020-00618-8. Also see www.catchments.ie and https://www.epa.ie/environment-and-you/freshwater-and-marine/
Environmental Protection Agency, A national macroinvertebrate dataset collected for the biomonitoring of Ireland’s river network, 2007–2018 (EPA), National Biodiversity Data Centre, Ireland, accessed 28 March 2024, <https://maps.biodiversityireland.ie/Dataset/335>
Dataset species distribution

Terrestrial Map - 10km

Distribution of the number of species recorded within each 10km grid square (ITM).
Live Map

Marine Map - 50Km

Distribution of the number of species recorded within each 50km grid square (WGS84).
Live Map
Dataset record distribution

Terrestrial Map - 10km

Distribution of the number of records within each 10km grid square (ITM).
Live Map

Marine Map - 50Km

Distribution of the number of records within each 50km grid square (WGS84).
Live Map
Dataset Contacts
Wayne Trodd; Catherine Bradley; Hugh Feeley
N/A
N/A
Records per year
Species per year
Date Statistics
Resolution No. records
Day 185886
2007
2018
Record Statistics

185886

1222

252

0

Resolution No. records
100m 185886
1km 0
2km 0
10km 0
50km 0
Dataset Attributes
Attribute Description
Station Code Unique Water Framework Directive station code
Station Name Unique Water Framework Directive station name
WFD River Waterbody Code Unique Water Framework Directive river waterbody identifier code
WFD River Waterbody Name Unique Water Framework Directive river waterbody identifier name
Recorded Species
TaxonId PrefnameTaxonId Name Authority Group Rank Records
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