Part of UKCEH UKCEH logo
UKCEH website
Jones, J.I. et al

Fish biomass and density data for 3 intensively studied Wessex chalkstream sites, England, UK

https://doi.org/10.5285/7eee41f8-dbde-4b5e-b2d5-7296b5bfc558
Download/Access
PLEASE NOTE:

By accessing or using this dataset, you agree to the terms of the relevant licence agreement(s). You will ensure that this dataset is cited in any publication that describes research in which the data have been used.

© Queen Mary University of London

© Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust

This dataset is made available under the terms of the Open Government Licence

Download the data

Bulk download options

You can use WGET to download data. For example
wget --user=YOUR_USERNAME --password=YOUR_PASSWORD --auth-no-challenge https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/datastore/eidchub/7eee41f8-dbde-4b5e-b2d5-7296b5bfc558/WP3_2_Food_Web_Fish_Community_Density_Biomass.csv

Further information and help »

Density and biomass of fish taxa from three chalkstreams in the Wessex chalk area: Nine Mile River, River Till and River Wylye. Data were collected on five occasions, between October 2012 and October 2013. The density of fish taxa at each of the three streams was estimated using benthic fish sampling and multi-pass electrofishing. The mean biomass of individuals of each taxon at each site on each occasion was then applied to the density estimates to derive an estimate of the biomass per m2 of each taxon at each site on each occasion. Data were collected to quantify food webs detailing the flux of mass and nutrients between nodes of the food web. This dataset was created as part of work package 3.2 of the Wessex Biodiversity & Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) project.
Publication date: 2017-06-26
63 downloads *
1,055 views *

More information

View numbers valid from 01 June 2023 Download numbers valid from 20 June 2024 (information prior to this was not collected)

Format

Comma-separated values (CSV)

Spatial information

Study area
Spatial representation type
Tabular (text)
Spatial reference system
OSGB 1936 / British National Grid

Temporal information

Temporal extent
2012-10-01    to    2013-10-31

Provenance & quality

Samples were collected on five separate occasions from the three sites. Sampling did not occur during the salmonid breeding season, December to March, so as not to disturb redds. Protocols and standard procedures were strictly followed for benthic fish sampling and electrofishing but there was no formal quality assurance procedure, such as repeat surveying of the same reach on a different day within the same sampling period. Electrofishing was undertaken by fully qualified and very experienced fish biologists (Bill Bellamy and Luke Scott) from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Fish populations were assessed by multi-pass electrofishing. Population density estimates were derived using the the Zippin maximum likelihood method (Zippin, 1958). As electrofishing is not particularly effective at catching certain benthic species e.g. bullheads, stone loach, we used a modified Hess sampler (0.12 m2) to assess populations of these species, deployed 20 times on each date, using a stratified-random regime. The mean biomass of individuals of each taxa captured at each site on each occassion was determined using length-mass regressions, and multiplied by the density estimate to derive a biomass estimate.

Licensing and constraints

This dataset is made available under the terms of the Open Government Licence

Cite this dataset as:
Jones, J.I.; Arnold, A.; Pretty, J.; Duerdoth, C.; Murphy, J.; Hawczak, A.; Scott, L.; Lauridsen, R.; Beaumont, W. (2017). Fish biomass and density data for 3 intensively studied Wessex chalkstream sites, England, UK. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/7eee41f8-dbde-4b5e-b2d5-7296b5bfc558

© Queen Mary University of London

© Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust

Correspondence/contact details

Murphy, J.
Queen Mary University of London
London
UK
 j.f.murphy@qmul.ac.uk

Authors

Jones, J.I.
Queen Mary University of London
Arnold, A.
Queen Mary University of London
Pretty, J.
Queen Mary University of London
Duerdoth, C.
Queen Mary University of London
Murphy, J.
Queen Mary University of London
Hawczak, A.
Queen Mary University of London
Scott, L.
Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
Lauridsen, R.
Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
Beaumont, W.
Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust

Other contacts

Custodian
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
 info@eidc.ac.uk
Publisher
NERC Environmental Information Data Centre
 info@eidc.ac.uk

Additional metadata

Topic categories
biota
INSPIRE theme
Environmental Monitoring Facilities
Keywords
Wessex BESS
Last updated
03 June 2025 07:42