Determining the value of the Citizen Science Stream Index in assessing water quality
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Date
2023
Authors
Smets, Madelief
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Publisher
Community-Academic Research Links, University College Cork
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Abstract
Freshwater ecosystems are increasingly under threat, experiencing declines in both area and quality. In response to this, there has been an increasing demand to monitor these systems. Citizen science has been an increasingly suggested method to aid in resolving this issue. Citizen science is a practice in which people from the public, who are untrained as scientists, aid in data collection for scientific research. An advantage of using citizen science is that it increases spatial and temporal coverage reaching beyond conventional, laboratorybased, monitoring programs. The Citizen Science Stream Index (CSSI) is an Irish biotic river water quality index that has been designed especially for citizen science. This study aimed to determine the validity of this index using the Minane River in County Cork, Ireland, as a study site. A kick sampling method was used to collect 22 macroinvertebrate field samples in the autumn of 2022. These samples were assigned a CSSI field score, and scores of several conventional biological water quality indices. Correlations between the CSSI and conventional indices showed significant results for a few biotic water quality indices, suggesting that the CSSI may be able to contribute towards monitoring river water quality in Ireland.
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Keywords
Water quality , Citizen Science Stream Index
Citation
Smets, M. (2023) Determining the value of the Citizen Science Stream Index in assessing water quality. Cork: Community-Academic Research Links, University College Cork.
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©2023, Madelief Smets.