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Mean Trophic Rank: A User’s Manual

R&D Technical Report E38

NTH Holmes3, JR Newman2, S Chadd4, KJ Rouen4, L Saint4and FH Dawson1

Research contractors:

NERC Institute of Freshwater Ecology 1

with IACR Centre for Aquatic Plant Management 2

and Alconbury Environmental Consultants 3

Environment Agency 4

Rio House

Waterside Drive

Aztec West

Almondsbury

BRISTOL

BS32 4UD

R&D Technical Report E38

Publishing Organisation

Environment Agency

Rio House

Waterside Drive

Aztec West

Almondsbury

Bristol BS32 4UD

Tel: 01454 624400 Fax: 01454 624409

ISBN: 1 85705 092 4

transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or

otherwise without the prior permission of the Environment Agency.

The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the Environment Agency. Its

Officers, servants or agents accept no liability whatsoever for any loss or damage arising from the

interpretation or use of the information, or reliance on the views contained herein.

Dissemination status

Internal: Released to Regions

External: Public Domain

Statement of Use

This report sets out procedural guidance on how to carry out Mean Trophic Rank (MTR)

macrophyte surveys to assess the trophic status of rivers, and on the use of the method for the

purposes of the EC Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. The methodology can also be used

for other applications. The guidance supersedes and replaces earlier, internal guidance issued to

Environment Agency staff. It is intended as ‘best practice’ standard methodology for all MTR

surveys and is applicable throughout the UK.

Research Contractor

This document was produced under R&D Project E1-i694 by:

NERC Institute of Freshwater Ecology IACR Centre for Aquatic Plant Management

The Rivers Laboratory, East Stoke Broadmoor Lane, Sonning, Reading

Wareham, Dorset, BH20 6BB Reading, Berkshire, RG4 0TH

Tel: 01929 462314 Fax: -462180 Tel: 0118 969 0072

Institute of Freshwater Ecology - disclaimer IFE report reference RL/T4073Q7/7. In

accordance with the normal practice of the NERC Institute of Freshwater Ecology, this report was

prepared for use by the party to whom it is addressed (Environment Agency) and no responsibility

is accepted for the interpretation by any third party for the whole or any part of its contents.

Environment Agency's Project Manager

The Environment Agency's Project Manager for R&D Project E1-i694:

Karen J Rouen, North West Region

R&D Technical Report E38 i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This document is intended as a description of a standard methodology for the assessment

of the trophic status of rivers using macrophytes applicable throughout the United Kingdom.

Its production would not have been possible without the cooperation and assistance of Dr

Nigel Holmes, English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, The Countryside Commission

for Wales, the Industrial Research and Technology Unit (Northern Ireland) and the

Scottish and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER).

R&D Technical Report E38 ii

This page has been left blank intentionally

R&D Technical Report E38 iii

CONTENTS

List of Figures v

List of Tables v

Glossar y vi

Executive Summary ix

Key Words ix

1Foreword 1

1.1 About this manual 1

1.2 Summary of the method 3

2Introduction to MTR 5

2.1 What is MTR? 5

2.2 Uses of MTR 8

2.3 Principal application: Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 9

2.4 Other applications 11

3Survey Planning 15

3.1 Alternative methods to consider 15

3.2 Sampling strategy 20

3.3 Logistics of sampling 22

3.4 Ancillary data collection 29

3.5 Limitations of the method 31

4How to Carry Out an MTR Survey 33

4.1 Overview of the methodology 33

4.2 Preparation and pre-survey checks 33

4.3 Site and survey details 33

4.5 Carrying out the macrophyte survey 38

4.6 Assessing and recording physical variables 49

4.7 Laboratory Analysis 58

5MTR Data Analysis 61

5.1 Calculating Mean Trophic Ranks 61

5.2 Assigning a measure of confidence to the MTR 62

5.3 Assessment of confidence in the data 63

5.4 Data storage 64

6Interpretation of MTR Results 65

6.1 Interpretation for the purposes of the UWWTD 65

R&D Technical Report E38 iv

6.2 Interpretation for other purposes 72

6.3 Interpretation of species diversity 74

6.4 Interpretation of overall percentage cover values 76

7Quality Assurance 77

7.1 Introduction 77

7.2 Training 80

7.3 Audit surveys 82

7.4 Inter-calibration exercise 88

7.5 Database verification 89

7.6 Survey length selection 90

8MTR Best Practice Checklist 91

8.1 Uses of MTR 91

8.2 Survey planning 91

8.3 Survey methodology 92

8.4 Data analysis 92

8.5 Interpretation of results 93

8.6 Quality assurance 93

9References 95

Appendices 99

Appendix 1 Rare plants 100

Appendix 2 Foreign invasive plant species 101

Appendix 3 Identification guides and preservation manuals 102

Appendix 4 Equipment suppliers 104

Appendix 5 Standard record sheets 105

Appendix 6 Example sketch maps 121

Appendix 7 Summary of methodology, definitions and equipment checklist 125

Index 131

R&D Technical Report E38 v

R&D Technical Report E38 vi

LIST OF FIGURES

1Diagrammatic representation of survey method 38

2Illustration of shading 53

3Macrophyte survey flow chart 60

4Interpretation of MTR results, Stage I ‘decision tree’:

Is the site impacted by eutrophication? 70

5Interpretation of MTR results, Stage II ‘decision tree’:

Is there a significant downstream impact from the qualifying discharge? 71

LIST OF TABLES

1MTR scores summarised according to river community type 68

2Reasons for mismatch between audit and primary surveys, with suggested actions 87

A1 List of Mean Trophic Rank scoring taxa, with recent synonyms 111

A2 Cover (m2) for 100m Survey Lengths 119

LIST OF TEXT BOXES

1Factors to consider when deciding whether to use MTR or DQI/TDI 18

2Factors to consider when selecting MTR sites and survey lengths 24

3Conditions when surveys should not be undertaken 26

4Non-standard survey lengths 36

5Exceptions to surveying the full channel width 37

6Methods of estimating overall percentage cover 43

7Estimating percentage cover of individual species: width method 45

8Estimating percentage cover of individual species: square metre method 46

9Audit procedure 85

R&D Technical Report E38 vii

GLOSSARY

Audit survey Repeat survey undertaken for quality assurance purposes.

CCW Countryside Council for Wales.

Channel area The part of the river channel where macrophytes are seen submerged or

partly submerged at low flow levels. At the sides of the channel this

includes all macrophytes attached or rooted on parts of the substrata

which are likely to be submerged for more than 85% of the year.

Comparability A measure of confidence in the physical

comparability of a pair of sites

based upon the similarity of width, depth, substrata, habitat, shading,

water clarity and bed stability.

CVS

Cover Value Score

. The score allocated to a species resulting from the

multiplication of the Species Trophic Rank and the Species Cover Value.

DoE The Department of the Environment.

d/s Downstream.

EN English Nature.

DQI The Diatom Quality Index. A transformation of the

Trophic Diatom Index

for use when comparing TDI and MTR results.

Highlighted species Refers to a plant species within MTR which is believed to be a particularly

reliable indicator of trophic status.

IFE The Institute of Freshwater Ecology.

IRTU Industrial Research & Technology Unit, Northern Ireland.

LEAP Local Environment Agency Plan.

Macrophyte Larger alga or higher aquatic plant (including bryophytes), observable to

the naked eye and nearly always identifiable when observed.

MTR Mean Trophic Rank. A numerical score assigned to a survey length based

on its macrophyte presence and abundance characteristics.

Nitrate Dissolved or soluble or non-particulate nitrate.

Non-QD Non-qualifying discharge under the UWWTD, with a population

equivalent of less than 10,000.

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