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SSNet Research Project
Building a science-informed knowledge base on the role of small streams in water quality, biodiversity and ecosystems services protection
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About the SSNet Research Project
SSNet is an EPA-funded research project led by researchers in University College Dublin with partners in Trinity College Dublin, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and Queen Mary University of London in the UK. The overall objective of the research is to build a science-informed knowledge base on the role of small streams in water quality, biodiversity and ecosystem services protection to inform policy, measures and management options to meet the WFD objectives and other regulatory targets.
Small streams are those that lie within the headwaters of rivers, usually only a few kilometers from the source and are typically first or second order streams. These rivers have a lower volume of water than higher order rivers and stream widths of less than 3 m are typical. However, despite their low volume they represent 75% of the Irish river network, 63,731 km of Irish river channels are first or second order streams. As such they capture and distribute a large proportion of water and other materials to the lower reaches of our river systems. Ecosystem services provided by small streams ranges from habitat provision for animals such as salmon and sensitive insects to regulation of flood waters and the storage and cycling of nutrients.
Considerable knowledge gaps relate to benefits that small streams provide. The SSNet Research Project will seek to close these knowledge gaps and better understand the role that small streams play in maintaining biodiversity and determing water quality in the lower reaches of river systems.