River Macrophytes Database: UK River Plant Surveys from 1977

Great Britain and Northern Ireland river plant data from over 7,000 survey sites collected between 1977 and the present day. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee database records aquatic and marginal plant species on a three-point abundance scale within 500-meter river sections. It includes a plant community classification system and a small amount of associated fish data.

Use Cases

• Classifying river plant communities to sub-type level based on the Holmes et al. (1999) method described.
• Analyzing long-term trends in aquatic and marginal plant species abundance across UK rivers.
• Supporting Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) selection for rivers using the plant community classification.
• Correlating macrophyte community data with the limited fish data also held in the database.

Strengths

• Contains data from over 7,000 survey sites, described as the most comprehensive database of its kind.
• Covers a long temporal range, with data collected from 1977 to the present day.
• Uses a standardized survey method recording species in 500 m sections with a three-point abundance scale.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• The database is described as potentially becoming a 'legacy' system as a new survey method is adopted.
• Invertebrate survey records were removed in November 2019 for validity checks; their status is unclear.

Provenance

Source

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Collection Method

Field surveys following the methods of Holmes et al. (1999), recording plants in 500 m river sections.

Time Range

1977 to present day

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-14 09:48:04.153393; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Great Britain and Northern Ireland