Ecology and wildlife monitoring
Monitoring River Chess Wildlife
The Chess Smarter Water Catchment project is monitoring wildlife along the River Chess and in its catchment to understand how it is responding to threats and challenges, and how conservation works may help to restore it. SmartRivers is one of the surveys we are using. Citizen scientists are helping to collect samples and data on riverfly communities. These insects spend most of their lives in the water as nymphs, making them excellent indicators of river health. Their continuous exposure to water makes examining them incredibly informative regarding the build-up of contaminants.
2022 survey results:
Our first results show that May was a good month for riverfly communities with only a few areas of the Chess seeming to be suffering from critical pressures. Let’s hope this result is maintained when reassessed in the autumn!
Water voles are another key indicator species, and one the project is aiming to protect. Water vole surveys have been undertaken every two years along the Chess since 2001, and we are continuing to conduct surveys to understand where their populations are, how they are doing, and how they respond to conservation works.
2021 survey results:
Results from 38 surveys carried out on the River Chess and its tributaries between Chesham and Chorleywood showed water vole activity on 29 sections of the River. Results also showed that the population’s range had extended 1.5 km downstream from the previous survey in 2019. The number of water voles present was calculated from a detailed latrine count and results showed that the population had increased significantly from 2019. Water vole numbers are estimated at 92% of the 2001 population.
Read our latest Water Vole Report
Water voles
Water voles live on our waterways, burrowing into riverbanks and hiding among reedbeds. Spring is a great time of year to spot this fluffy, brown rodent as bankside vegetation will still be low. Look out for the signs that they are around: little piles of poo in ‘latrines’; stems of grasses chomped at a 45-degree angle; and a distinctive ‘plop’ as they dive into the water. If you spot one, take in their furry tails and blunt noses – most unlike brown rats, which they often get mistaken for. They are one of our most threatened mammals, having disappeared from more than 90% of their original habitats and now listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. They are extremely vulnerable to habitat loss and predation by the non-native American mink.
More about data collection in the Chess catchment
- Chess Watch is a partnership between the Queen Mary University of London, River Chess Association, Chilterns Chalk Streams Project and Thames Water. The partnership is monitoring water chemistry in the River Chess, increasing public awareness about the threats to water quality and river health, and providing educational materials about chalk streams and the links between water quality and water quantity issues in rivers.
- A Natural Capital Assessment – a project to collect data on the extent, condition and change in ecosystems, natural capital, and the benefits to society – is being undertaken in the Chess catchment. Baseline data has been complied to provide evidence for the issues and challenges in the area.
Tracking the Impact
Tracking the Impact is a four year landscape-scale wildlife surveying programme across the Central Chilterns area, which has been further expanded in 2023 to include the Chess catchment area.
In 2022, our 78 volunteers submitted over 3,250 records between them, recording 335 species – with each record helping us to better understand the wildlife of the Chilterns.
All of the records for the survey squares have been entered onto our new online interactive map so you can see for yourself what birds, butterfly and plants have been recorded and where.
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