Headwater stream quality for Britain

Data consist of modelled estimates of observed/expected Biological Monitoring Working Party (an index for measuring the biological quality of rivers using selected families of macroinvertebrates as biological indicators) scores for freshwater streams across Great Britain (GB). The BMWP scores (1-10) are based on the principle that macroinvertebrates differ in their perceived sensitivity or tolerance to organic pollution (i.e. nutrient enrichment). Values greater than 1 indicate high water quality. Data pooled across two survey years (1998 and 2007) was used to model the relationships between headwater stream quality and catchment/stream characteristics for headwater streams across GB based on known relationships for headwater streams in Countryside Survey squares. Modelled estimates of stream water quality were based on a Boosted Regression Tree modelling approach .