Our Ecology Team Members attended the annual meeting of the Irish Freshwater Sciences Association. This year’s meeting was held in Dublin City University in the Cregan Library, St. Patricks Campus, Drumcondra. Over 22 talks were given by experts from across the freshwater sciences in Ireland and further afield. These included members from National Parks and Wildlife Service, Inland Fisheries Ireland, the Marine Institute, Dublin City Council, University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin City University, a number of engineering and environmental consultancies, and others.
Talks on the day ranged greatly; from the conservation status of Irelands freshwater habitats and species, nature-based solutions and their implementation, spatial monitoring of river temperatures, potential changing phenology of Atlantic salmon, the value of large wood habitat in Irish rivers, and many more.
Of particular note, NPWS gave a presentation on the ongoing rescue of remnant white-clawed crayfish population in the Munster blackwater catchment from advancing crayfish plague. Crayfish plague has ravaged many of Ireland’s river systems, and it is an existential threat to the species within Ireland. This project aims to establish an ark site that can act as a safe refuge for white clawed crayfish, away from the advancing threat of crayfish plague. Within the UK, crayfish ark sites have been an effective conservation measure in maintaining isolated populations of native crayfish.
The NPWS discussion on the conservation status of our protected aquatic habitats and species highlighted that the majority of these are in unfavourable condition. One hundred percent of our protected Annex I freshwater habitats are in unfavourable condition, with twenty-five percent of these habitats in Bad condition. Two thirds of our protected aquatic species are in unfavourable condition, with only four species in Good or favourable condition. This highlights the worrying downward trend of Irelands protected freshwater habitats and species, and the urgent need to protect them.
MSc and PhD candidates discussed their upcoming projects towards the end of the meeting. These included topics on ecological flow requirements, nitrate related oxygen stress within rivers, citizen science within freshwater areas, and monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of ecological water quality restoration measures. The meeting closed with lifetime contribution awards presented to Dr Julian Reynolds, Dr Declan A. Murray, and Dr James P. O’Connor, for their incredible contributions to freshwater sciences within and outside of Ireland.
