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Tristan Hatton-Ellis

Tristan Hatton-Ellis
Natural Resources Wales · Evidence and Advice

About

47
Publications
30,560
Reads
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605
Citations
Additional affiliations
September 1993 - October 1997
University of Bristol
Position
  • PhD Student

Publications

Publications (47)
Technical Report
Full-text available
This report presents the results of an exercise to assess the extinction risk to all species of stonewort (Charophyta) in Wales. Assessment of extinction risk was carried out following the IUCN Criteria, employing the standard method. In addition to the assessment of extinction risk, an indication of the abundance of each species has been calculate...
Article
Full-text available
Accurate, cost‐effective monitoring of fish is required to assess the quality of lakes under the European Water Framework Directive. Recent studies have shown that environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is an effective and non‐invasive method, which can provide semi‐quantitative information about fish communities in large lakes. This study further...
Article
Full-text available
Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is transforming biodiversity monitoring in aquatic environments. Such an approach has been developed and deployed for monitoring lake fish communities in Great Britain, where the method has repeatedly shown a comparable or better performance than conventional approaches. Previous analyses indicated that 20 wat...
Article
Extinctions occur naturally in all environments, but rates have accelerated rapidly during the Anthropocene, especially in fresh water. Despite supporting many fish species of conservation importance, there has never been a formal assessment of their extinction risks in Britain, which has impeded their inclusion in relevant legislation and policy....
Preprint
Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is transforming biodiversity monitoring in aquatic environments where the method has repeatedly shown comparable or better performance than conventional approaches to fish monitoring. This method has been developed and deployed, primarily using shoreline sampling during the winter months, across 101 lakes in G...
Method
Full-text available
The chapter provides detailed guidance for use in selecting estuarine fish sites throughout Great Britain to recommend for notification as SSSIs. It should be used in conjunction with Part 1 of the SSSI Selection Guidelines (Bainbridge et al. 2013), which detail the overarching rationale, operational approach and criteria for selection of SSSIs, an...
Technical Report
Full-text available
This project set out to collect, process and supply to NRW ecological and environmental data from a network of 16 lake sites across Wales, in support of NRW’s integrated monitoring programme for protected sites (SACs and SSSIs), the Water Framework Directive, Nitrates Directive, Biodiversity Action Plans and other legislative and policy drivers. In...
Technical Report
Full-text available
This project set out to collect, process and supply to NRW ecological and environmental data from a network of 19 lake sites across Wales, in support of NRW’s integrated monitoring programme for protected sites (SACs and SSSIs), the Water Framework Directive, Nitrates Directive, Biodiversity Action Plans and other legislative and policy drivers inc...
Preprint
Full-text available
1. Accurate, cost-effective monitoring of fish is required to assess the quality of lakes under the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Recent studies have shown that eDNA metabarcoding is an effective and non-invasive method, which can provide semi-quantitative information on fish communities in large lakes. 2. This study further investigate...
Chapter
Full-text available
Revised Guidelines for the Selection of Biological SSSIs. Part 2: Detailed Guidelines for Habitats and Species Groups. Chapter 19 Freshwater Fish. This chapter updates and replaces the previous Freshwater Fish SSSI Selection Guidelines chapter (Nature Conservancy Council 1989). It was prepared by Colin Bean, Phil Boon and Alison Lee (Scottish Nat...
Chapter
Full-text available
This chapter updates and replaces the previous Freshwater Habitats SSSI Selection Guidelines chapter (Nature Conservancy Council 1989). It was prepared by Chris Mainstone and Ruth Hall (Natural England), Tristan Hatton-Ellis (Natural Resources Wales) and Phil Boon, Colin Bean and Alison Lee (Scottish Natural Heritage), and provides detailed guidanc...
Technical Report
Full-text available
This project set out to collect, process and supply to NRW ecological and environmental data from a network of 14 lake sites across Wales, in support of NRW’s integrated monitoring programme for protected sites (SACs and SSSIs), the Water Framework Directive, Nitrates Directive, Biodiversity Action Plans and other legislative and policy drivers. In...
Article
Full-text available
This project set out to collect, process and supply to NRW ecological and environmental data from a network of 14 lake sites across Wales, in support of NRW’s integrated monitoring programme for protected sites (SACs and SSSIs), the Water Framework Directive, Nitrates Directive, Biodiversity Action Plans and other legislative and policy drivers. In...
Technical Report
Full-text available
The EU Nitrates Directive requires Member States to identify and designate Nitrate Vulnerable Zones every four years based on evidence that nitrate concentrations exceed safe levels for human health, or that nitrogen levels are likely to be causing harmful imbalances on the aquatic environment (eutrophication). England and Wales have previously agr...
Article
River flow and water temperature are fundamental controls of freshwater ecosystems. Hence, future warming could impact valued habitats and species, particularly those with cold water preferences (such as salmonids). Warming could also exacerbate existing environmental pressures or diminish the effectiveness of management interventions. Climate mode...
Technical Report
Full-text available
This document provides the first mapped prioritisation of biodiversity action for Welsh lakes. It is intended to complement existing documents for other habitats on the Wales Biodiversity Partnership website by helping to guide action to those areas where it is most needed, and builds on previous work incorporating the results of more recent survey...
Article
Full-text available
The use of geoengineering techniques for phosphorus management offers the promise of greater and quicker chemical and ecological recovery. It can be attractive when used with other restoration measures but should not be considered a panacea. The range of materials being proposed for use as well as the in-lake processes targeted for manipulation con...
Technical Report
Full-text available
The Afon Tywi rises in on the lower slopes of Crug Gynan in the Cambrian Mountains and, flowing through the steep, rugged hills of the Tywi Forest, forms the border between Ceredigion and Powys. Llyn Brianne reservoir was constructed in the headwaters in the 1960s and the river flows generally south-westwards through Carmarthenshire passing through...
Technical Report
Full-text available
1. Article 17 of the Habitats Directive requires member states to carry out surveillance of Habitats listed in Annex I of the Directive, including several lake types. Monitoring of protected sites, including Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) designated under the Habitats Directive is also required to assess their condition and guide management....
Article
To help meet the requirements of water legislation, palaeolimnology has been widely used to establish ‘reference conditions’ and restoration targets for lakes. However, its potential for assessing the necessity and appropriateness of different lake management activities has been less publicized. With reference to selected case studies covering cons...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Pant-y Llyn is Wales’ and Britain’s only recorded Turlough. It is a key feature of Cernydd Carmel SSSI and SAC and a groundwater dependent terrestrial ecosystem (GWDTE) that has been identified as being at risk of significant damage from enriched groundwater input. This investigation is a collaborative project between hydrogeologists from Environme...
Technical Report
Full-text available
The River Dee is designated as a Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) for river, brook and sea lamprey. All three species are listed in Annex II of the European Union Directive (92/43/EEC) on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (the Habitats Directive). Under the Habitats Directive member states are required to monitor A...
Article
Full-text available
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Connectivity is important to all organisms in spatially structured environments, and critical to understanding how global change affects their habitats and ranges. However, freshwaters have been under-represented in the recent connectivity debate. This is a major gap because: • Connectivity affects not only the movement of fres...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Over the past two decades the Countryside Council for Wales has been undertaking a systematic survey of Welsh lakes designed to describe the biodiversity resource and understand the biogeographical context at a British and regional scale. Almost 80 lakes in Wales have been surveyed using a standard method which records plant species present and a r...
Article
Full-text available
Llangorse Lake is the largest natural lake in South Wales, UK, and is of European conservation importance. The site has a long history of eutrophication problems and, in recent years, significant efforts have been made to meet water quality restoration targets at this site by reducing the input of phosphorus (P) from external sources. Although the...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Llyn Cadarn is a small, high alkalinity lake within the Anglesey Fens Special Area of Conservation (SAC). One of the key conservation features of this site is its calcareous lakes dominated by stoneworts (Chara). However, recent monitoring found no Chara in the lake. The report employs palaeolimnological techniques to determine whether Llyn Cadarn,...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Bosherston Lakes or Lily Ponds is a very shallow, artificially-created lake system, lying close to sea level within the Stackpole National Nature Reserve in Pembrokeshire. The system is now designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the Habitats Directive as the Annex I habitat “Hard oligo-mesotrophic waters with benthic vegetation of...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Llangorse Lake is the largest natural lake in South Wales and is of European level importance in terms of the wildlife that it supports. However, the site has a history of eutrophication problems. These were believed to have been caused by high nutrient loads entering the lake from the surrounding catchment. This study aimed to determine the size a...
Technical Report
Full-text available
1 This report was commissioned by CCW in 2007 to provide an assessment of the current conservation status of 16 Welsh standing waters, 15 of which are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). The report presents a series of data reports and condition assessments (employing Common Standards Monitoring (CSM) methods (JNCC, 2005)) for...
Article
This report was commissioned by the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) in 2005 and provides an assessment of the conservation status of Welsh Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). It details the site condition assessments of 43 individual standing water features and provides overall assessments of t...
Technical Report
Full-text available
This report was commissioned by the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) in 2005 and provides an assessment of the conservation status of Welsh Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). It details the site condition assessments of 43 individual standing water features and provides overall assessments of t...
Article
In order to clarify the relationship between genetic differentiation of the bryozoan Cristatella mucedo and geographic distance in the British Isles, we characterised populations of this species in Scotland, Ireland, and Devon and from one site in North America by analysis of RAPD markers and mtDNA sequences. We then compared the genetic relationsh...
Article
In spite of increasing interest in metapopulation dynamics, the genetic consequences of a metapopulation structure remain poorly understood. Here we examine the metapopulation genetic structure of the colonial, facultatively sexual freshwater bryozoan Cristatella mucedo, in the Thames basin of southern England, UK. Populations from nine sites were...
Article
Bryozoans are common, often abundant, sessile, colonial invertebrates of freshwaters. By reviewing what is known of their general ecology and considering in further detail the population biology of specific groups, we provide evidence that 1) populations are locally ephemeral and regional persistence is attained via a dynamic equilibrium between di...

Questions

Question (1)
Question
The article starts by saying that the biomonitoring lags behind the science, and ends by saying that the science is lagging behind the policy. Given that the policy / legislation (i.e. WFD) more or less dictates the biomonitoring, where does that leave us?
The implications of the opening section is that a wide range of methods are available to regulatory agencies, but are underused. Although the article is a good critique of existing methods, it doesn't really explain what aspects of science should be incorporated into existing monitoring straight away. The authors admit that most new methods don't necessarily relate to existing known pressures and/or require further development. What new methods are cost-effective, better than existing tools, and could be deployed in a 3-5 year timetable after an initial piloting and testing phase?

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