A national macroinvertebrate dataset collected for the biomonitoring of Ireland’s river network, 2007–2018 (EPA)

The data described here were originally collected for one purpose – to assess rivers nationwide to determine the quality of the macroinvertebrate communities across the country as part of the WFD ecological status assessment. These assessments indicate changes that pollution brings about in the benthic macroinvertebrate communities, i.e. larval insects (e.g. mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, beetles, etc.) together with crustaceans (e.g. shrimps), snails and bivalves, worms, and leeches. These changes reflect the varying sensitivities of the different groups of macroinvertebrates to the stresses caused by pollution, with sensitive species being progressively replaced by more tolerant forms as pollution increases. Geographic Coverage: Republic of Ireland Temporal Coverage: River macroinvertebrates are collected from June to September each year, 2007 to 2018, when flows are likely to be relatively low. Species Groups recorded: roundworm (Nematoda), hairworm (Nematomorpha), insect - true bug (Hemiptera), insect - beetle (Coleoptera), insect - caddis fly (Trichopte, flatworm (Turbellaria), sponge (Porifera), insect - mayfly (Ephemeroptera, insect - true fly (Diptera), crustacean, annelid, mollusc, insect - alderfly (Megaloptera, acarine (Acari), insect - lacewing (Neuroptera), insect - dragonfly (Odonata), insect - stonefly (Plecoptera) Dataset Status: The dataset is complete and inclusive of data collected 2007 to 2018. Additional Information: A full description of data collection is available at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-020-00618-8. Also see www.catchments.ie and https://www.epa.ie/environment-and-you/freshwater-and-marine/