SFCC Habitat Survey Protocol v2.3
Definitions and Abbreviations
PART A:
Water level:
Dry
- no water in stream / dispersed pools & no perceptible flow
Low
- summer level or below
Medium - slightly higher than summer level due to rain
High
- substantially higher than summer level, not bursting banks
Spate
- flood conditions, bursting banks
PART B:
Bed visible (%):
% of river bed in the survey stretch that is visible.
Invisible areas - covered by overhanging branches / water too deep / water too coloured.
Mature islands:
Count of stable and permanently vegetated islands; do not count as braided channels. Include river on both sides of
islands in channel assessments; ignore island banks for bankside assessments. To include island banks in bankside
assessments, survey channels on either side of a mature island as separate survey sections.
Substrates:
HO - High organic: very fine organic matter, including peat substrate and thick leaf cover on stream bed
SI - Silt: Fine, sticky, mostly inorganic material, individual particles invisible
SA - Sand: Fine, inorganic particles, <= 2mm diameter, individual particles visible
GR - Gravel: Inorganic particles 2-16mm diameter
PE - Pebble: Inorganic particles 16-64mm diameter
CO - Cobble: Inorganic particles 64-256mm diameter
BO - Boulder: Inorganic particles >256mm diameter
BE - Bedrock: Continuous rock surface
OB - Obscured: Wood, sheets of iron, barrels etc. obscuring river bed and cannot be moved for inspection.
Only include areas covered by instream vegetation roots; rest of instream vegetation can usually be moved - include
in other categories. Never include percentage of substrate that cannot be seen because of water depth/colour in this
category. Important: Record substrate from the point of view of cover for fish, not spawning suitability.
Instream veg (%) :
% of the survey stretch stream bed covered by instream vegetation.
Include ALL types of vegetation (including algae), providing vegetation serves as cover for fish
Thin layer of algae/mosses that cover the surface of rocks does not count as cover.
Silted?:
Refers to silt covering the surface of the bed and NOT to silt in the stream bed matrix.
Stability [substrate, braided channels, point bars, side bars]:
Stable/Unstable - Use 'Unstable' to identify stretches where stream mobility is extreme.
Compactedness [substrate only]:
Compacted/Partly/Uncompacted
'Uncompacted' beds move when digging into the stream bed with feet.
'Compacted' should be obviously cemented. Fully compacted stream bed is unlikely to be ‘Unstable’.
'Partly compacted’ beds contain both uncompacted and compacted patches.
Bedrock should never be classed as compacted.
Flow percentages (% of survey stretch wetted area):
SM - Still marginal: <10cm deep, still/eddy, no waves behind 2-3cm wide rule, smooth surface, silent
DP - Deep pool: >= 30cm deep, flow slow, eddy, no waves behind 2-3cm wide rule, smooth surface, silent
SP - Shallow pool: <30cm deep, flow slow, eddy, no waves behind 2-3cm wide rule, smooth surface, silent
DG - Deep glide: >=30cm deep, flow moderate/fast, waves form behind 2-3cm wide rule, smooth surface, silent
SG - Shallow glide: <30cm deep, flow moderate/fast, waves form behind 2-3cm wide rule, smooth surface, silent
RU - Run: water flow fast, unbroken standing waves at surface, water flow is silent
RI - Riffle: water flow fast, broken standing waves at surface, water flow is audible
TO - Torrent: white water, chaotic and turbulent flow, noisy, difficult to distinguish substrate
PART C & D:
Fish cover (%) :
% of bank length (water/land boundary) within survey stretch that provides cover for fish.
‘Cover’ = physical cover for fish, not secondary cover related to shading.
Fish Cover Type:
UC
- Undercut: cover provided from undercut banks.
DR
- Draped: cover from vegetation rooted on the river bank and draping on to the water surface.
MA - Marginal: cover provided by plants rooted in the stream bed, excluding fully aquatic vegetation.
RT
- Roots: cover provided by roots of trees growing on the bank. Trees can be alive or dead.
RK
- Rocks: cover provided by rocks which are part of the bank, forming the water/bank boundary.
OTH - Other cover: if circling OTH specify the type of cover in the space provided.
NONE - No fish cover: circle ‘None’ if no fish cover present (i.e. circle ‘None’ if ‘Fish cover’ = 0%).
Grazing intensity (bankface & buffer zone):
Degree of grazing on the bankface and buffer zone. Select ONE of:
None - Bank not grazed (Select only if ‘Grazers’ is 'None').
Light - Ground veg. apparently grazed/impact negligible AND/OR existing trees & shrubs show very light damage.
Moderate - Ground vegetation shorter than normal in patches/throughout AND/OR
existing trees & shrubs moderately damaged.
Intense - Ground grazing to roots of bankside vegetation AND/OR existing trees & shrubs extensively damaged.
Grazers (bankface & buffer zone):
Predominant animals that cause the recorded grazing intensity.
Grazing exclusion feature(s) present:
Exclusion features present within and along buffer zone.
Record all features provided they are effective or can within reason be upgraded to be effective.
Exclusion upgrade required (m) :
Length of exclusion required to protect the buffer zone and bankface from recorded grazers.
Can include establishing new exclusion method, repairing damaged exclusion sections, linking existing exclusion
method to bank etc.
Predominant bankface / buffer zone vegetation:
Bare
- Predominantly bare ground (or buildings/concrete). <50% vegetation cover.
Uniform - Predominantly one vegetation type, but lacking scrub or trees.
Simple - Predominantly 2-3 vegetation types, with/without scrub or trees, including tall or short herbs.
Complex - Four or more vegetation types which must include scrub or trees.
Important: Type of vegetation does not mean different species, but structural complexity ie number of different
canopy layers (e.g. short grass vs. long grass/nettles vs. shrubs vs. taller trees).
Collapse (%) / Erosion (%) :
Severe
- Substantial shifts in bank location due to collapse/erosion likely after each successive flood.
Moderate - Shifts in bank location due to collapse/erosion are likely to be gradual, banks fairly stable,
impact on channel geomorphology (often wider and shallower)
Light
- Small amount of collapse/erosion of no consequence.
Trampling (%):
Severe
- Substantial trampling likely to act as a seed point for further bank instability.
<1/3 of original bankside vegetation cover present.
Moderate - Trampling obvious but >1/3 of bankside vegetation still present.
Light
- Small amount of trampling of no major consequence. Original vegetation cover almost intact.
Trampling can be either on bankface or anywhere within buffer zone.
Predominant land use (50m from the banktop) / Other land uses (50m from the banktop):
BL - Broadleaf/mixed woodland
OW - Open water
CO - Conifer plantations
SU - Suburban/urban development
OR - Orchard
RS - Rock and scree
MH - Moorland/heath
RD - Road
SC - Scrub
AR - Arable
TH - Tall herbs/rank vegetation
NC - Natural/semi-natural conifers
RP - Rough pasture
FW - Felled woodland
IG - Improved/semi-improved grass
IN - Industrial
TL - Tilled land
GA - Garden
WL - Wetland
NA - Not applicable. Land use all under ‘Predominant land use’
Presence of young plantations: Trees <2m high only.
Conifer planting conforms to F&W guidelines?:
Streams <1m wide - planted >5m from bank.
Streams 1-2m wide - planted >10m from bank.
Streams >2m wide - planted >20m from bank
PART F: Pollution Points
Type:
SE - Sewage effluent
FE - Farm effluent
SD - Sheep dip
IN - Industrial
FR - Fish rearing
RD - Road
??
- Don’t know
OTH - Other (Specify in the space)
PART G: Obstacles
Type:
WF - Waterfall
DA - Dam
WE - Weir
CU - Culvert
BR - Bridge apron
FP - Fish pass
FC - Fish counter
FD - Flood debris
FT - Fallen trees
GC - Gravel cones >50cm high at side burns
WG - Water gate
OTH - Other (Specify in the space)
Passable?:
No (U/D) - Not passable to adults in upstream direction and fatalities likely in downstream direction
No (U)
- Not passable to adults in upstream direction, passable in downstream direction
Yes (S/F) - Passable, but likely to be species/adult size dependent
Yes
- Passable, but potentially problematic
??
- Unsure
PART H: Channel/bank Modifications
Location:
Only select ‘Bed’ if works are truly aimed at modifying the nature of the bed (e.g. pool creation).
Do not select 'bed' if bankside modification has had secondary effect on the stream bed.
Type:
GA - Gabions
CW - Concrete wall
HP - Holding pool
FP - Fishing pool
CR - Croys
CD - Current deflectors
RE - Revetments
UC - Under construction/not yet identifiable
OTH - Other (Specify in the space)