Freshwater Matters from the FBA March 2013

1. March 2013
Freshwater Matters
Freshwater Matters is a monthly electronic bulletin of the most recent
freshwater news from around the world, compiled by the Freshwater Biological
Association (FBA). It includes updates of what is happening at the FBA and ways
to get involved.
Contents
What’s happening at the FBA?
This month’s articles
Top predators have sway over climate
Environmental factors determine whether immigrants are accepted by
cooperatively breeding animals
Extreme winters impact fish negatively
Amazon freshwater ecosystems are vulnerable to degradation
Something fishy going on… Antidepressants make perch antisocial
WISER methods to assess ecological recovery of European water bodies
highlighted in special journal issue
Busy beavers give Canada geese a lift
Sockeye salmon ‘sense magnetic field of home’
Deadly Topmouth Gudgeon removed from Millennium Coastal Park lakes
Monster goldfish found in Lake Tahoe
What’s happening at the FBA?
Job opportunity
The FBA, in partnership with the University of Cumbria and Sellafield Ltd. is
offering an exciting opportunity for a graduate (who has graduated at any level
within the last 5 years) wanting to develop skills and experience in freshwater
bioremediation. Funding has just been granted for this position and application
information will be available on the FBA website over the next couple of weeks
(https://www.fba.org.uk/jobs-notices).
Environment Agency Archives Project
The Data and Information Services Team is busy digitising valuable reports from
the Environment Agency. They include mainly fisheries and other surveys from
the EA North West Region but cover also other Regions and general topics. Have
a look here at the growing number of documents, all available Open Access:
http://aquaticcommons.org/view/issuing_agency/Environment_Agency,_
UK_=28Freshwater_Biological_Association=29.html
FBA Oral History Project
The FBA is looking forward to starting an interesting new project called ‘Clear
Waters - an oral history of people’s understanding of change in the Lake District’.
The project (which will officially kick off in April) will explore the living history
of the lakes of Cumbria and the changes they have gone through over the past
50/60 years. For more information see http://www.fba.org.uk/fba-oral-history-
project.
Learning for Lakes Project visit
On the 19th of February, a delegation of managers and scientists from throughout
Europe visited the FBA at Windermere as part of the EU funded “Learning
for Lakes” project. The FBA promoted its partnership work with a number of
talks that included practical demonstrations and tour of the facilities. Topics
included; freshwater pearl mussel conservation, restore the shore (rehabilitating
Windermere’s reed beds), oral history (new FBA project), and the role of the
general public in environmental monitoring.
Training update
Our 2013 season of training courses starts this month, kicking off with a two-day
course on identifying freshwater invertebrates, on 20-21 March at our Windermere
site. With expert tuition by the FBA Director, Dr Mike Dobson, the course will
involve the collection and identification of aquatic invertebrates from both running

2. and still water habitats, and will feature sampling methods, bankside sorting
and lab-based identification. Places are still available - for more information
and to book a place, please contact us at events@fba.org.uk. For a full course
programme and downloadable booking form, please visit www.fba.org.uk/fba-
training-courses.
As well as the courses listed in our course programme, we can also offer bespoke
tuition in some of the courses listed, where dates and venues can be flexible, as
well as courses on other topics, tailored to your needs. Alternatively, if you are
looking for a venue for your own course(s), our training and conference facilities
are also available for hire. Sited on the shore of Windermere and the River Frome
in Dorset, with a conference room at both locations and a training laboratory
at Windermere, our sites make inspiring venues for freshwater events, from
university field courses to professional workshops. If you would like to find out
more, please contact us at events@fba.org.uk.
This month’s articles
Top predators have sway over climate
The removal of predators at the top of the food chain can lead to freshwater
ecosystems releasing a lot more carbon dioxide according to research in Nature
Geoscience. Using three experimental ponds scientists from the University of
British Columbia found that removal of predators led to 93% more carbon dioxide
being released into the atmosphere compared to ponds that retained their
predators.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130219091014.htm
Environmental factors determine whether immigrants are accepted by
cooperatively breeding animals
Research published in this month’s Proceedings of the Royal Society B show that
cichlid fish are more likely to accept immigrants into their group when there is
a threat from predators. The research was carried out on a cichlid from Lake
Tanganyika that lives in groups with a dominant breeding pair and several helper
fish that assist with raising the offspring.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130206094716.htm
Extreme winters impact fish negatively.
Research published in Bioscience this month has found that fish can be negatively
impacted by extreme winter conditions if their habitat does not provide them
with refuges to escape from the most adverse conditions. Studying the impact of
ice break up on fish communities, the researchers found that rivers impacted by
hydro power were particularly difficult for fish to survive in due to rapid changes in
the flow that prevent them escaping to deeper water in time.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/uu-ewi021513.php
Amazon freshwater ecosystems are vulnerable to degradation
Freshwater ecosystems in the Amazon region are highly vulnerable to degradation
from deforestation, pollution, dam construction and over-harvesting according to
a study published in Conservation Letters. This degradation is a major cause for
concern not only for the habitat, but also as people within the region are highly
dependent on the associated ecosystem services.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130201100034.htm
Something fishy going on… Antidepressants make perch antisocial
Scientists in Sweden have found that drugs used to treat anxiety and depression
are affecting the behaviour of fish species even at small concentrations. In a study
examining the European perch (Perca fluviatilis) the researchers found that fish
exposed to the drugs were less sociable, bolder and ate faster than fish that were
not exposed.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/something-fishy-going-on-
antidepressants-contaminating-rivers-make-perch-antisocial-8495075.html

3. WISER methods to assess ecological recovery of European water bodies
highlighted in special journal issue
This month saw the publication of a special issue of the journal Hydrobiologia that
brought together key outputs from the EU’s WISER project, which examined ways
of improving assessment methods for European water bodies.
http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news/news_archive/WISER-methods-water-bodies-special-
issue_2013_10.html
Busy beavers give Canada geese a lift
The presence of beaver ponds has been found to increase the breeding success
of Canada geese returning to Alberta, Canada after their winter migration. The
activity of the beavers results in an earlier thawing of the snowpack allowing
the geese to get a head start with nesting, therefore increasing their chance of
breeding success.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130213132328.htm
Sockeye salmon ‘sense magnetic field of home’
Data published this month in Current Biology provide the first direct evidence that
salmon use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate across oceans and return to
their home rivers to breed. Using 55 years of data from the Fraser River in British
Columbia researchers have shown that the migration route of sockeye salmon
matches the intensity of the geomagnetic field.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21345259
Deadly Topmouth Gudgeon removed from Millennium Coastal Park lakes
Work to remove an invasive fish species from an area of Wales has entered its
second phase this month as members of the Environment Agency began draining
lakes to rescue native fish species. Following this the EA will apply chemicals to
eradicate one of the 23 populations of topmouth gudgeon found in England and
Wales. Not only do the fish out-compete native species, but they also harbour a
disease that can kill salmon and trout.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-21227831
Monster goldfish found in Lake Tahoe
Researchers trawling Lake Tahoe for invasive species netted themselves quite a
surprise when they caught a 1.5 ft, 4.2 pound goldfish. The fish was probably
dumped in the lake by an aquarium owner, a common practice in the USA and one
that is having a toll on native wildlife.
http://news.yahoo.com/monster-goldfish-found-lake-tahoe-193345402.html
Please forward this bulletin to any of your colleagues who may be
interested!