Habitat management and aquatic fauna

The project aims to determine the effect of organic Agri-Environment Schemes (AES) and invasive American signal crayfish on fish and aquatic invertebrates in the Upper Thames river system. The crayfish part of the project consists of comparing Dr Tom Moorhouse’s crayfish removal and non-removal sites, located on the Windrush, in terms of invertebrate and fish community structure and food web structure. This should enable examination of the potential effects of invasive signal crayfish and the potential effects of any future efforts to remove this species from the Upper Thames.

The AES part of the project involves monitoring invertebrate biodiversity of sites across the Upper Thames with varying degrees of AES in place. Specifically it aims to determine the impact of organic AES (rather than non-organic or no AES) on the biodiversity of aquatic invertebrates.

The project aims to answer the following specific questions:

How do crayfish removal and non-removal sites differ in terms of invertebrate species diversity?

How do crayfish removal and non-removal sites differ in terms of fish species diversity, individual size and growth rates?

Where do invasive crayfish fit within the aquatic food web and what happens when crayfish are removed?

How do areas with organic and non-organic/no AES options differ in terms of invertebrate species diversity?