AUSRIVAS: Australian River Condition Scores from Macroinvertebrate Surveys

AUSRIVAS (Australian River Assessment System) data from 13 monitoring locations in the Australian Capital Territory, maintained by the ACT Government. The dataset contains O/E taxa scores, which compare observed to expected macroinvertebrate fauna to assess biological condition, recorded biannually in spring and autumn. The data was last updated on the platform on 2023-07-28.

Use Cases

• Analyzing trends in river condition (Score) over time using the Year and Season columns.
• Comparing biological impairment across different monitoring locations using the SiteID and Site Name columns.
• Modeling the relationship between seasonal variation (Season) and biological condition scores (Score).
• Assessing site-specific ecological health over multiple years using the Year, SiteID, and Score columns.

Strengths

• Data is collected from 13 specific monitoring locations, providing spatial coverage across the ACT.
• Sampling follows a consistent biannual schedule (spring and autumn), enabling seasonal analysis.
• The O/E taxa score provides a standardized, biologically-based metric for river condition assessment.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Site details (e.g., coordinates, environmental characteristics) are in a separate dataset, requiring a join for full context.

Provenance

Source

ACT Government via www.data.act.gov.au

Collection Method

Field sampling of aquatic macroinvertebrates as part of the AUSRIVAS monitoring program.

Freshness

Last updated 2023-07-28 01:36:43; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian Capital Territory, Australia