SPEC 1. A Natural History of the English Lakes

by Geoffrey Fryer

Published by The Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, 1991

384 pages

ISBN 978-0-900386-50-3

Price £18.00

This book is written in simple language intended for students, amateurs and others who want a largely non-technical introduction to the formation of waterbodies after the last glaciation in the English Lake District, and an account of the basic biology of their biota. Written in short, self-contained sections, the first 113 pages deal with the formation, physical and chemical features of the lakes, tarns and streams. The remainder of the book (pages 1 14-351 ) covers the aquatic biota, from microscopic algae and larger plants to bacteria, water birds and mammals, with sections on bryozoa, fungi, gastrotrichs, hydras, protozoa, rotifers, sponges, various worms, leeches, snails, crustaceans, insects, fish and amphibians. There is a generous index.

Although the text is based on the English Lake District, most of the contents are applicable elsewhere in the British Isles and the very numerous illustrations, some 800 line-drawings in total, provide an unusually comprehensive introduction to the general biology of fresh waters and the plants and animals therein. These illustrations are fitted into a supporting hand-written text.

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SPEC 3. Eutrophication - Research and Application to Water Supply

Edited by D.W. Sutcliffe and J.G. Jones on behalf of the Freshwater Biological Association and the International Water Supply Association, London, UK

Published by The Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, 1992

224 pages

ISBN 978-0-900386-52-7

Price £24.00

Invited papers from a specialised conference held in London (UK) on 10-11 December 1991.

Contents:

• Introduction and opening remarks (H. Bernhardt)
• Eutrophication and the management of planktonic algae: what Vollenweider couldn't tell us (C.S. Reynolds)
• The impact of physical processes on algal growth (D.M. Imboden)
• The predicting power of models for eutrophication (G. van Straten)
• Structural dynamic eutrophication models (S.E. Jørgensen)
• The scope for biomanipulation in improving water quality (B. Moss)
• The control of indirect effects of biomanipulation (J. Benndorf)
• The significance of sedimentation and sediments to phytoplankton growth in drinking-water reservoirs (D. Uhlmann & H. Horn)
• Calcite covering of sediments as a possible way of curbing blue-green algae (H. Klapper)
• Development of trophic state and phytoplankton in an oligo-mesotrophic reservoir (Kleine Kinzig) in the northern Black Forest, Germany (E. Hoehn)
• Changes of water quality and sediment phosphorus of a small productive lake following decreased phosphorus loading (S.I. Heaney, J.E. Corry & J.P. Lishman)
• Eutrophication in the River Meuse (J.-P. Descy)
• Keys to species of case-bearing caddis larvae (one key for each family)
• A tool for better management of water quality during periods of algal blooms: the case of the River Oise (T. Vandevelde & V. Da Molo)
• The control of gas-vacuolate cyanobacteria (A.E. Walsby)
• Physical measures to inhibit planktonic cyanobacteria (C.E.W. Steinberg & E. Gruhl)
• Active reservoir management: a model solution (J. Hilton, A.E. Irish & C.S. Reynolds)
• Notes on collection, preservation and examination, and on general features of caddis larvae
• Management of Biesboch reservoirs for quality control with special reference to eutrophication (G. Oskam & L. van Breeman)
• Summary and concluding remarks (J.G. Jones)
  

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SPEC 4. Water Quality and Stress Indicators in Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems

Edited by D.W. Sutcliffe on behalf of the Freshwater Biological Association, the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, and the Scottish Association for Marine Science.

Published by The Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, 1994

182 pages

ISBN 978-0-900386-54-1

Price £33.00

Invited papers from a joint Associations specialised conference held at Napier University, Edinburgh on 6-7 September 1993

Contents:

• The effects of stress on benthic algal communities (E.J. Cox & T.A. Norton)
• Use of macroinvertebrate communities to detect environmental stress in running waters (J.F. Wright, M.T. Furse & P.D. Armitage)
• From the individual to the community and beyond: water quality, stress indicators and key species in coastal systems (S.J. Hawkins, S.V. Proud, S.K Spence & A.J. Southward)
• From organism to population: the role of life-history theory (R.M. Sibly)
• The connection between single species and ecosystems (L.B. Slobodkin)
• The ecological impact of different mechanisms of chronic sub-lethal toxicity on feeding and respiratory physiology (R. Willows)
• Stress, shredders and streams: using Gammarus energetics to assess water quality (L. Maltby)
• Effects of stress on the immune system of fish (A.L. Pulsford, S. Lemaire-Gony & S. Farley)
• Mussel eggs as indicators of mutagen exposure in coastal and marine environments (D.R. Dixon & P.L. Pascoe)
• Metalothionen as an indicator of water quality: assessment of the bioavailability of cadmium, copper, mercury and zinc in aquatic animals at the cellular level (S.G. George & W.J. Langston)
• Molecular biomarkers and toxic consequences of impact by organic pollution in aquatic organisms (D.R Livingstone, L. Forlin & S.G. George)
• Abstracts of poster presentations
  

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SPEC 5. The Microbila Quality of Water

Edited by D.W. Sutcliffe on behalf of the Freshwater Biological Association and the International Water Supply Association, London, UK

Published by The Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, 1997

144 pages

ISBN 978-0-900386-57-2

Price £32.00

Invited papers from a specialised conference held in London on 12-13 December 1995 by the FBA and the IWSA.

Contents:

• The microbiological quality of water: the nature of the problem (J.G. Jones)
• The impact of molecular biology on assessment of water quality: advantages and limitations (J.R. Saunders & V.A. Saunders)
• Cultural methods of detection for microorganisms: recent advances and successes (J. Watkins & X. Jian)
• Detection of specific bacteria in water: implications of survival strategy (R.W. Pickup & G. Rhodes)
• The health significance of heterotrophic bacteria in drinking water (N. Lightfoot)
• Viruses and drinking water (R.Y. Cartwright)
• Production of positive controls for calcivirus-specific PCR using recombinant baculovirus technology (S.A. Butcher & S.E. Gould)
• Persistance of viable but non-culturable bacteria during the production and distribution of drinking water (P. Cervantes, V. Mennecart, C. Robert, M.R. de Roubin & J.C. Joret)
• Biodiversity in drinking water distribution systems: a brief review (J.C. Block, I. Sibille, D. Gatel, D.J. Reasoner, B. Lykins & R.M. Clark)
• Tastes and odours in potable water: perception versus reality (M.G. Kelly & J.R. Pomfret)
•  Recent progress in the identification and determination of freshwater phytoplankton in the natural environment (C. Wilhelm & C. Lohmann)
• Immunodetection of planktonic algae (J.A. Taylor)
• The diversity and ecological role of protozoa in fresh waters (B.J. Finlay) Detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in water and environmental concentrates (H.V. Smith)
•  "Point of view". Cryptosporidiosis: a waterborne disease (K. Miller)
  

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SPEC 7. Aquatic Life Cycle Strategies - Survival in a Variable Environment

Edited by Michael Whitfield on behalf of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Jack Matthews on behalf of the Scottish Association for Marine Science and Colin Reynolds on behalf of theFreshwater Biological Association

Published by The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 1999

149 pages

ISBN 0 903241-07-2

Price £20.00

Invited papers from a specialised conference held at the University of Plymouth in April 1997 by the FBA, MBA and SAMS

In a rapidly changing world it is essential that we should understand the factors controlling the sustainability of ecosystems. In aquatic ecosystems, both sensitivity and recoverability are influenced strongly by the life cycles of the organisms concerned. The response of individual species to change and their chances of survival in a variable environment can be affected dramatically by the timing and location of disturbances relative to their natural rhythms of fertilisation, dispersal and development. This book illustrates the wide range of issues that must be addressed to understand such relationships. Its purpose is to consider those aspects of life history that make aquatic organisms especially susceptible to (or adaptable to) changing environments - and hence to discuss links between impacts on individuals and the consequent effects on populations and communities.

Contents:

• LIFE CYCLES
• Synchrony and sociality: breeding strategies in constant and variable benthic environments (C M Young)
• With or against the grain: responses of phytoplankton to pelagic variability (C S Reynolds)
• Plankton behaviour and life cycles in advective environments (S Kaartvedt)
• Egg Hatching: one mechanism for life-cycle partitioning in aquatic insects (U H Humpesch)
• The influence of ontogeny on the response of freshwater fish to environmental variables (R H K Mann)
• VARIABILITY AND IMPACT
• History and recruitment in structure of intertidal assemblages on rocky shores: an introduction to problems for interpretation of natural change (A J Underwood)
• On the benefits of being a larva - or not (J A Pechenik)
• Amphibians and agriculture: double jeopardy (R S Oldham) Running the gauntlet: pollution, evolution and reclamation of an estuarine bay (J Levinton)
• Identifying ‘marine sensitive areas’ – the importance of understanding life-cycles (K Hiscock)
  

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SPEC 8. Assessing the Biological Quality of Fresh Waters - RIVPACS and Other Techniques

Edited by John F. Wright, David W. Sutcliffe and Mike T. Furse

Published by The Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, June 2000

400 pages

ISBN 978-0-900386-62-6

Price £40 softback, £60 hardback

This book presents an up-to-date account of developments in predictive bioassessment systems for classifying and monitoring fresh waters, based on macroinvertebrates. It describes in considerable detail developments with the River Invertebrate Prediction and Classification System (RIVPACS) of the UK, the AUSRIVAS programme in Australia, and the BEAST in Canada. Multimetric methods from North America, bioassessment approaches in The Netherlands, Sweden and Spain, and the application of artificial intelligence techniques are all included. The book is based on an international workshop of 59 invited scientists from 23 countries that took place at Jesus College, Oxford in 1997. For all those who are professional scientists involved in aquatic bioassessment methods or the management of natural and impacted fresh waters, this book is a necessary reference text. Similarly for students wishing to learn more about the use of macroinvertebrates for assessing biological quality of fresh waters, it is an invaluable source of information.

Contents:

• Participants
• Foreword
• Editorial preface
• Some terms commonly employed by biologists working with RIVPACS
• An introduction to RIVPACS (John F. Wright)
• Evolution of statistical methods in RIVPACS (Dorian Moss)
• Uncertainty in estimates of biological quality based on RIVPACS (Ralph Clarke)
• Classification of the biological quality of rivers in England and Wales (Brian Hemsley-Flint)
• Quality assurance and RIVPACS (Robert A. Dines and John A.D. Murray-Bligh)
• The application of RIVPACS procedures in headwater streams – an extensive and important national resource (Mike T. Furse)
• The potential of RIVPACS for predicting the effects of environmental change (Patrick D. Armitage)
• Development of a national river bioassessment system (AUSRIVAS) in Australia (Peter E. Davies)
• Biological assessment of river quality: development of AUSRIVAS models and outputs (Justen C. Simpson and Richard H. Norris)
• AUSRIVAS: operator sample processing errors and temporal variability – implications for model sensitivity (Chris L. Humphrey, Andrew W. Storey and Lisa Thurtell)
• The development of the BEAST: a predictive approach for assessing sediment quality in the North American Great Lakes (Trefor B. Reynoldson, Kristin E. Day and Tim Pascoe)
• Establishing reference conditions in the Fraser River catchment, British Columbia, Canada, using the BEAST (BEnthic Assessment of SedimenT) predictive model (David M. Rosenberg, Trefor B. Reynoldson and Vincent H. Resh)
• Selection of benthic macroinvertebrate metrics for monitoring water quality of the Fraser River, British Columbia: implications for both multimetric approaches and multivariate models (Vincent H. Resh, David M. Rosenberg and Trefor B. Reynoldson)
• Running-water biomonitoring in Spain: opportunities for a predictive approach (Javier Alba-Tercedor and Ana María Pujante)
• Effects of taxonomic resolution and use of subsets of the fauna on the performance of RIVPACS-type models (Charles P. Hawkins and Richard H. Norris)
• The 1995 national survey of Swedish lakes and streams: assessment of ecological status using macroinvertebrates (Richard K. Johnson and Willem Goedkoop)
• Typology of macrofaunal assemblages applied to water and nature management: a Dutch approach (Piet F.M. Verdonschot and Rebi C. Nijboer)
• New approaches to river quality classification based upon Artificial Intelligence (William J. Walley and Valentine N. Fontama)
• The multimetric approach to bioassessment, as used in the United States of America (Michael T. Barbour and Chris O. Yoder)
• The reference condition: problems and solutions (Trefor B. Reynoldson and John F. Wright)
• Summarising, presenting and interpreting outputs from RIVPACS and AUSRIVAS (Richard H. Norris)
• Using RIVPACS as a modelling tool to predict the impacts of environmental changes (Niels De Pauw)
• Using RIVPACS for studies on conservation and biodiversity (Philip J. Boon)
• RIVPACS and alternative statistical modelling techniques: accuracy and soundness of principles (Richard K. Johnson)
• References
• Index to scientific names (taxa)
• Index to selected topics
  

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SPEC 9. Microbial Diversity in Priest Pot: A Productive Pond in the English Lake District

by B.J. Finlay & S.C. Maberly

Published by The Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, August 2000, in collaboration with the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Windermere.

73 pages

ISBN 978-0-900386-64-0

Price £20.00

Priest Pot is a small, shallow pond that lies at the head of Esthwaite Water in the English Lake District. It has remained relatively undisturbed for 400 years and, together with the adjoining fen, is a National Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is a complex and productive ecosystem with many discrete habitats, where most biological activity is driven by micro-organisms and where it is possible to find an extraordinary variety of microbial species. The pond has been studied for more than fifty years and it is probably fair to say that more is known about the natural history of Priest Pot than of any other waterbody of similar size.

This booklet provides a history of the development of the pond, and summarises current knowledge and understanding of the complex interrelationships that exist between micro-organisms and the environment in the pond. It has been produced at a time when there is an increasing awareness of the importance of ponds in the landscape, from both a scientific and a biodiversity/conservation perspective. Although much is known about microbial interactions in the pond there is a great deal more to be learnt, and it is an ideal site for multidisciplinary investigations. Priest Pot is proposed as a focus for freshwater research within the Marine and Freshwater Biodiversity Thematic Programme sponsored by the Natural Environment Research Council in the UK. This booklet will be of interest not only to those wishing to take part in the Thematic Programme, but also to anyone who wishes to understand more about microbial processes in ponds.

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SPEC 10. The Phytoplankton of Windermere

by C.S. Reynolds and A.E. Irish

Published by The Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, 2000, in collaboration with the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Windermere

73 pages

ISBN 978-0-900386-65-7

Price £20.00

Windermere is the largest natural lake in England, visited by many thousands of tourists and perhaps the most comprehensively studied of any lake in the United Kingdom. This publication aims to provide a factual guide to almost a century’s work on the microscopic plant life of Windermere – its phytoplankton. In so doing, it also provides a summarised case study of the effects of nutrient enrichment (or "cultural eutrophication") on phytoplankton populations and the results of subsequent nutrient control measures.

The booklet sets the scene by introducing the physical–chemical features of Windermere and its catchment, and the effects of the lake’s light and temperature regime on algal physiology. The development of phytoplankton studies on Windermere is then described, with the sequence of events during 1965 being used as a baseline example for previous decades, and for assessing the changes that occurred in subsequent decades. This year proved to be a crucial year in the development of the lake, for shortly afterwards, Windermere began to receive direct discharges of nutrient-rich, secondary-treated sewage effluent. The booklet summarises the consequences for phytoplankton production, and the subsequent changes in the phytoplankton after restoration measures were introduced in 1992. Following on from this historical account, mechanisms governing the physiological ecology of phytoplankton in Windermere are discussed and the role of phytoplankton in the broader ecosystem of Windermere. Finally, longer-term climatic cycles are considered as revealed through paleolimnological reconstructions of past plankton activity and the kinds of responses that might be anticipated of global climatic changes. The text is enhanced by Dr Hilda Canter-Lund’s superb illustrations of some common species of algae.

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SPEC 11. Windermere: Restoring the Health of England's Largest Lake

by Alan D. Pickering

Published by The Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, December 2001 on behalf of The Lake District Still Waters Partnership: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Freshwater Biological Association, Lake District National Park Authority, English Nature, Environment Agency, National Trust, United Utilities

126 pages, with 75 colour & black-and-white illustrations

ISBN 978-0-900386-68-8

Price £10.00

This book has been produced to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Lake District National Park (LDNP) and to inform readers about major issues of public interest concerning Windermere – the largest natural lake in England. The LDNP Authority and its Still Waters Partners are jointly responsible for overseeing and managing this national resource. They have to balance a wide variety of view-points and sometimes conflicting requirements against the natural ‘needs’ of Windermere itself, with the aim of maintaining the lake in an ecologically healthy state for public use and enjoyment now and in the future.

In this account, Alan Pickering starts by providing a background to Windermere, introducing the reader to the lake’s geography, geology and historical development. As with all of the lakes in the English Lake District, and most of the UK, Windermere was formed at the end of the last glaciation. Major changes in its catchment induced by the changing climate and then by man’s removal of the forests have been recognised through examination of lake sediments. The book concentrates on one of the most dramatic changes in the second half of the twentieth century – the decline in the health of the lake ecosystem. The main cause of this was the increased nutrient load from local sewage treatment works. As the ecological balance of the lake was threatened, the collaborative efforts of scientists and environmental managers restored the lake to one with thriving populations of fish and other aquatic fauna and flora. As one of the scientists involved in this work, Professor Pickering gives a very clear account of all of these changes and some thoughts on issues surrounding the lake’s future management. His explanations of the more technical aspects make it accessible for the less technically-minded as well as to scientists and students of lakes and their catchments.

This is the latest in the FBA’s series of Special Publications and complements the previous publication, The Phytoplankton of Windermere by C. S. Reynolds and A. E. Irish (published in 2000). It will appeal to anyone who has an interest in lakes or the English Lake District.

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SPEC 12. Guide to the Identification of Soil Protozoa – Testate Amoebae

by Ken J Clarke

Published by The Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside,2003, in collaboration with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Windermere,

40 pages

ISBN 978-0-900386-69-5

Price £8.00

Testate amoebae are a group of free-living microscopic organisms that live in fresh and marine waters as well as in soil, leaf-litter and other places which are frequently drenched by water. The 92 species that are described in this guide also occur in freshwater environments, particularly in ponds and other habitats where there is little flow of water. The guide will be of interest to freshwater biologists and serves a useful introductory companion to two more formal keys that deal with ‘naked’ amoebae found in fresh waters and soil, both by F.C. Page and published by The Freshwater Biological Association:

• An illustrated key to freshwater and soil amoebae, with notes on cultivation and ecology, FBA Scientific Publication No. 34, Ambleside, 1976, 155pp, ISBN 978-0-900386-26-8
• A new key to freshwater and soil Gymnamoebae, with instructions for culture, CCAP and FBA, Ambleside, 1988, 122pp, ISBN 1 871105 02 1.
  

Testate amoebae are so-called because the animal lives inside a protective and durable shell or ‘test’ composed of various materials, rather like the familar case-bearing caddis larvae (Trichoptera). The size, structure and shape of the test are characteristic of each species and form a relatively simple and rapid means of identifying the common species that are encounted in moist environments. After a short section dealing with general aspects of testate biology and ecology, each species is briefly described and illustrated by line-drawings, drawn from examining tests under light and electron microscopy.

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SPEC 13. A Guide to the Identification of Genera of Chironomid Pupal Exuviae Occurring in Britain and Ireland (including common genera from Northern Europe) and Their use in Monitoring Lotic and Lentic Fresh Waters

by R.S. Wilson and L.P. Ruse

Published by The Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, August 2005

176 pages

ISBN 978-0-900386-73-2

Price £20.00

About 600 species of non-biting or "dancing" midges occur in Britain and Ireland, with many more on the continent of Europe. They are most noticeable when the adults perform mating flights in swarms along the shores of running-water (lentic) and standing or still-water (lotic) habitats. The aquatic life-cycle of eggs, larvae and pupae usually lasts for a year or less. When adult midges emerge from their pupae the empty cast skins or pupal exuviae float on the water-surface and become part of the flotsam accumulating along strand-lines and in backwaters. In such places, pupal exuviae can be scooped-up easily with a long-handled pondnet, for subsequent identification under low magnification.

This guide provides a series of multiple-choice keys for identifying the pupal exuviae of 145 genera and more than 100 selected species of Chironomidae that have been recorded from Britain and Ireland, including some that may become added to the list as they colonise the region from Northern Europe. The guide provides a simplified introduction to the complex taxonomy of the Family Chironomidae, and is intended for use by those who are not familiar with the group. The text is generously illustrated with line-drawings of important characters used for identification. An illustrated key is also given to separate the pupal exuviae of chironomids from the cast skins of other common aquatic insects that are similar in general appearance.

All genera and species covered by the guide are allocated to one of four groups representing varying degrees of organic pollution, based on published knowledge of the ecological requirements of genera and individual species, and the authors' own extensive experience. Drs Wilson and Ruse use their Chironomid Pupal Exuvial Technique (CPET) to evaluate habitat diversity and the ecological quality of a wide variety of water-bodies, and to monitor any changes occurring in them. Their technique is comparable to others that are commonly employed in biological monitoring and assessment of water quality. CPET is summarised and briefly discussed in a special section of the text.

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