SFG 100th Meeting

The 100th SFG meeting took place on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th April 2018. Talks were held in the Logie Lecture Theatre and posters in the Foyer outside the Logie Lecture Theatre, adjacent to the Cottrell Building, University of Stirling. See full details below, including the agenda and presentations where available.

To celebrate the 50th year of the Scottish Freshwater Group, the 100th meeting on 19th - 20th April 2018, hosted at Stirling University and supported by the Scottish Government, provided an excellent opportunity to look back on achievements in freshwater science, policy and practice, and forward towards the challenges and exciting, emerging technical and theoretical innovations in this field.

This monumental occasion supported more than 30 talks and 20 posters, presented by a diversity of people at various stages on their career journey. There were plenty of opportunities for both new and long-standing SFG members to enjoy themselves, interact with and learn from each other, savour the importance of the collaborative work we do and nourish our freshwater community for many more years to come!

*** Abstracts are also available for verbal presentations and poster presentations ***

Agenda

Theme: Celebrating 50 years of the SFG: a retrospective review and forward look at emerging freshwater science, policy and practice

Day 1: Thursday 19 April

Morning session - Defining, classifying and assessing freshwaters

Chair: Laurence Carvalho (CEH)

  • 08:50 Registration and meet for tea/coffee
  • 09:20 Pauline Lang & Peter Maitland (SFG) "Welcome and opening thoughts"
  • 09:30 Willie Duncan (SEPA) "The status of Scotland’s freshwaters"
  • 10:00 Nigel Wilby (University of Stirling) “The comparative value of different aquatic habitats for biodiversity: a bean counter's guide to Perthshire"
  • 10:20 Alan Law (University of Stirling) "All things are connected, but some things are more connected than others"
  • 10:40 Alan MacDonald (BGS) "Baseline groundwater chemistry in Scotland's aquifers"
    • 11:00 – 11:30  Tea/coffee break (supported by Scottish Government)
  • 11:30 Bill Brierley (FBA) "The power of freshwater communities"
  • 11:50 Jennifer Dodd (Veritas Ecology Ltd.) "Use of statistical methods to inform freshwater ecology over the last 50 years"
  • 12:10 Colin Bean (SNH) "Embracing 21st Century ecological monitoring: using emerging technologies to inform decision-making for Scotland’s freshwaters"
  • 12:30 Claire Neil (University of Stirling) "Exploitation of satellite remote sensing for regulation and monitoring of inland water quality"
    • 12:50 Lunch break and poster session (supported by Scottish Government)

Afternoon Session – Pressures on the freshwater resource

Chair: Nigel Willby (University of Stirling)

Followed by the SFG social evening reception with buffet dinner and charity ceilidh.

Day 2: Fri 20th April

Morning Session – The use and value of freshwaters

Chair: Chris Spray (University of Dundee)

  • 09:00  Registration & meet for tea/coffee
  • 09:30  Nicholas Hanley (University of Glasgow) – “Estimating the economic benefits from water quality improvements”
  • 10:00  Carolin Vorstius (University of Dundee) – “A characterisation of Scottish drinking water catchments” [PDF]
  • 10:20  Jon Rathjen (Scottish Government) – “Developing the value of Scotland’s water resources through innovation, internationalisation and the Hydro Nation programme”
  • 10:40  Victoria Keele (Plymouth University) – “Investigating the use of Google Earth to capture the multiple benefits provided by river environments”
    • 11:00 – 11:30  Tea/coffee break (supported by Scottish Government)
  • 11:30   Linda May (CEH) – “Loch Leven: a flagship site that delivers benefits to the people of Scotland”
  • 11:50   Iain Malcolm (Marine Scotland Science) – “Development of a national juvenile salmon density model for Scotland to underpin fisheries management and assessment”
  • 12:10   Kathleen Stosch (University of Stirling) – “Using novel stakeholder engagement methods to identify land and water management pressures across Scottish catchments”
  • 12:30   Alastair Stephen (SSE) – “70 years of hydro: some lessons learnt”
    • 12:50 – 14:00  Lunch break & poster session (supported by Scottish Government)

Afternoon Session – Freshwater conservation and management

Chair: Colin Bean (SNH)

Details of the poster presentations

  • Spatial and temporal trends in historic sea trout population fluctuations across Scotland – Isabel Moore (University of Glasgow), Jennifer Dodd and Colin Adams
  • Examining the response of Freshwater pearl mussels, M. margaritifera, to changes in the hydrological environment – Edward A.M. Curley (University of Glasgow), Rhian Thomas, Colin Adams and Alastair Stephen
  • Patterns of freshwater habitat use by a rare breeding duck, the common scoter, and implications for scoter conservation – Alison Maclennan (RSPB), Hannah Robson, Trevor Smith, Andy Douse and Mark Hancock
  • Impacts of onshore wind farm developments on fish populations in Scotland – Emily E Bridcut (Marine Scotland Science)
  • A 50 year change of the distributions of macroinvertebrates in the River Endrick – Jennifer Dodd (Veritas Ecology Ltd.), Peter Maitland and Colin Adams
  • Using ecosystem engineers as tools in habitat restoration and rewilding: beaver and wetlands – Alan Law (University of Stirling), Martin Gaywood, Kevin Jones, Paul Ramsey, Phil Bartie and Nigel Willby
  • Assessing recent responses of freshwater Scottish lochs to changes in nutrient loading – Lucia Lencioni (UCL), Helen Bennion, Carl Sayer and Nadia Solovieva
  • Statistical methods for analysing the remote-sensing lake data – Mengyi Gong (University of Glasgow), Craig Wilkie, Anna Sehn, Ruth O’Donnell, Claire Miller and Marian Scott
  • Statistical modelling of river run and river network data – Craig Wilkie (University of Glasgow), George Vazanellis, Ruth O’Donnell, Claire Miller, Marian Scott and Adrian Bowman
  • Water quality outcomes of a constructed wetland – Ewan Lawrie (SNH), Fiona Napier and Richard Humpidge
  • Salmon smolt trawl work in connection with marine renewables developments – Ross Gardiner (Marine Scotland Science), Rob Main, Rob Kynoch, John Gilbey and Ian Davies
  • Understanding migration in highly managed fish species: new insights from emerging technology – Colin Adams (University of Glasgow), Ian Davis, Ross Gardiner, Han Honkanen, Isabel Moore, Rob Main and Matt Newton
  • Detailed long-term study of a Scottish Atlantic salmon population across multiple life-stages suggests no discernible benefit of conservation stocking – Ross Glover (University of Aberdeen), Rob J Fryer, Chris Soulsby, Philip J Bacon and Iain A Malcolm
  • Understanding and assessing the effects of river regulation on Atlantic salmon fry – Karen Millidine (Marine Scotland Science), Rob Fryer and Iain Malcolm
  • The geomorphic and hydrological responses of flood embankment removal on the upper River Dee, Aberdeenshire – Stephen Addy (James Hutton Institute) and Mark Wilkinson
  • Fussy freshwater pearl mussels – what we’ve learned about how to reintroduce them, and their choosy fish hosts – Iain Sime (SNH), Diane Baum, Peter Cosgrove, Jon Watt, Lee Hastie, Chris Daphne and Brian Shaw
  • “Water for all” Would a payments for Ecosystem Services scheme deliver more sustainable management in the Lunan Water, Angus? – Andy Vinten (James Hutton Institute), Linda May, Orla Shortall, Laure Kuhfuss, Iain Gunn and Ina Pohle
  • Ponding in intermittent streams: biodiversity hotspots – Tory Milner (University of Worchester) and Mathew Hill
  • IUCN NCUK river restoration and biodiversity project – Angus Tree (SNH) and members of the IUCN NCUK river restoration and biodiversity project

The next meeting of the Scottish Freshwater Group will be held on Thursday 25th October 2018 at the University of Stirling.