Monitoring and Impact Assessments
Monitoring and Impact Assessments
Cawthron scientists are pioneers in river health assessment and have developed several of the assessment approaches that are regularly used around New Zealand and internationally. We are involved in the design and implementation of freshwater ecosystem health monitoring frameworks and impact assessments in most freshwater environments, which we then implement through collaborating closely with community, iwi groups, and local and central government.
Water Quality Monitoring
We use state-of-the art water quality monitoring tools and sampling techniques, including:
- Molecular tools (eDNA sampling)
- In-house laboratory and taxonomy expertise
- Water quality sampling
- Functional indicators – ecosystem metabolism
- Dissolved oxygen modelling
- Deposited sediment protocols
- State of the environmental reporting
- Limit setting
Biological Monitoring
Cawthron scientists can provide advice on the status of a river’s health based on the composition of the communities found in rivers and streams. Our tools and expertise includes:
- Invertebrate community composition
- Benthic macroinvertebrate ecology
- Aquatic invertebrate drift behaviour and ecology
- Aquatic algae/invertebrate relationships
- Freshwater invertebrate taxonomy services
- Drift-diving
- Fish community composition (eDNA)
- Radio telemetry, electric fishing, netting and trapping
Fish Passage Assessment
We are involved in the design and implementation of fish passage assessments and working towards solutions for fish passage barriers. Our tools and expertise includes:
- Assessment of fish passage barriers
- Fish passage remediation
- Design of intentional fish passage barriers
- Fish passage resource consent advice
- Acoustic camera operation (DIDSON)
- Modelling of fish distributions
- Fish Passage Assessment Tool
Habitat Monitoring
We are leading research in developing instream habitat assessments and monitoring frameworks to support the work of regional councils and citizen scientists in monitoring stream habitats. Our expertise includes:
- Rapid Habitat Assessment (RHA)
- In-stream habitat assessments
