In the current climate of self-isolation and social distancing, this is as good a time as ever to add a new post to my blog. The final stint of FRESH CDT core skills training kicked off at the University of Exeter with an open discussion on the greatest threats facing freshwater ecosystems. Issues discussed include chemical pollution, fragmentation of habitats, multiple stressors and biodiversity decline. It sparked a really engaging debate, especially with regards to what the most suitable solutions might look like. In the evening, Prof. Charles Tyler showcased some of his outstanding wildlife photography of Dartmoor National Park. Charles’ knowledge and passion for nature was inspirational, especially to an engineer like myself who is used to just having numbers and equations thrown at me.

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On day 2, Prof. Richard Brazier took us out to a few local sites that are trialling the reintroduction of beavers. Unfortunately, no beavers were sighted – just a lot of gnawed at tree stumps. They were all snoozing in their lodge, after another tireless night repairing any structural defaults to their fortress of dams. It’s quite remarkable how quickly they have changed the landscape in their area of activity, with numerous benefits to wildlife and society. Beaver dams help trap and filter fine sediments and diffuse pollution from upstream agricultural sources, therefore improving downstream water quality. In addition to this, the sequence of dams help slow the flow of water. Thus, during periods of heavy rainfall, they act as natural flood defences to civilisations lower in the catchment. With more water held upstream by dams, it expands laterally, creating bodies of water that reflect the habitat of ponds. This encourages invertebrates, amphibians and species of birds to the area, enriching biodiversity. The retention of water in upstream areas can of course have a negative impact on adjacent agricultural areas, but these impacts are not beyond the management of humans. The full scientific impact of beaver introduction on the River Otter can be found here http://www.exeter.ac.uk/creww/research/beavertrial/.

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The rest of the week saw us mainly focus on ecotoxicology in fish and their adaptive biology. Freshwater organisms are continuously exposed to a mixture of chemical pollutants in the environment. While the risk of acute toxicity is low, long-term chronic effects are highly likely. Of most pertinence, are the behavioural changes that can occur on exposure to these chemicals. For example, exposure to psychiatric drugs (from waste water effluent) may cause increased boldness, putting species more at risk of predation. The danger is that these effects may be so subtle that they escape detection, but when observed over longer periods of time lead to profound changes on the population and ecological community level. But this may be undistinguishable from what would otherwise be attributed to natural change/adaption and therefore we may be causing these changes unknowingly (Daughton & Ternes, 1999). Part of the programme included a visit to the Aquatic Resource Centre labs to observe how research academics are using the latest tools in advanced imaging to better understand how certain chemical pollutants are affecting organisms.

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We also had a few lectures on Natural Capital, which were very interesting and useful. It may seem disheartening to put a monetary value on nature, but the lecturers presented the case quite clearly. To be able to make any decision you have to assign a value to it, with a metric that is comparable to another. Currency is the language that people can most make sense of when comparing value, especially decision-makers. Therefore, it is important that we focus more on fully understanding the value, in order to better protect our natural resources. I will definitely try to incorporate a better consideration of economics in any future work. This leads me on to my last point. Making use of contacts from different disciplines is extremely important to broaden knowledge and to ensure your research has the most impact. With Exeter being the last core skills training of the FRESH CDT, it has been great to immerse myself amongst many different disciplines and there has been lots of useful information I have taken away. I hope to have the opportunity to work with some of the teams from the various GW4 universities in the future.

Daughton, C.G. and Ternes, T.A., 1999. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the
environment: Agents of subtle change? Environmental Health Perspectives, 107(6), pp. 907-
938.