Examining the diversity and relative abundance of macroinvertebrates within a waterbody be it a stream, river, lake or estuary is a commonly employed technique to grade the biological water quality of that system. Well-developed procedures for the collection and analysis of macroinvertebrate samples have long been in place and sufficient identification keys mean that the major groups are routinely identified to the taxonomic level of family and even species. However in order to achieve results of consistently high quality it is necessary to train staff to meet strict quality control procedures thus ensuring that any changes observed between sites or over time are a result of responses to environmental change and not to sorter anomalies.
APEM MACROINVERTEBRATE SERVICES
- With over 30 years experience of processing invertebrate samples between them APEM's laboratory staff are capable of identifying organisms to both the taxonomic level of family and species.
- APEM's macroinvertebrate biologists undergo a comprehensive training programme and operate within stringent quality control procedures. These procedures are fully compatible with the Environment Agency's own protocols, and as such APEM provides a macroinvertebrate analysis service widely acknowledged as being one of the best in the UK.
2005: AQC Statistics family level analysis
| Analyst | N | Mean gains | Standard error | No. samples >2 gains | Highest no. gains | Mean errors (l+g+o) | Standard Error |
| APX4 | 5 | 1.20 | 0.58 | 1 | 3 | 0.80 | 0.73 |
| APX6 | 4 | 1.00 | 0.41 | 0 | 2 | 1.25 | 0.48 |
| APX10 | 11 | 0.82 | 0.18 | 0 | 2 | 1.09 | 0.21 |
| APEM | 20 | 0.95 | 0.95 | 1 | 3 | 1.30 | 0.23 |
2005: AQC statistics species level analysis
| Analyst | N | No. gains |
| APX6 | 1 | 1 |
| APX8 | 1 | 0 |
- The laboratory services staff currently process around 2000 samples per year, ranging from small contracts of tens of samples to larger contracts of hundreds of samples. However we are currently expanding the service due to the demand for high quality, externally audited analysis.
Our clients have the option of not only utilising APEM's Biolabs service but also the service of our experienced field scientists who undertake a range of sampling techniques, encompassing both qualitative and quantitative strategies. For freshwaters, kick-heel, surber, sweep, naturalist dredge, airlift, standard colonisation units and cylinder sampling can all be considered whilst for estuarine and marine systems, surface trawls, dredges and grabs of various descriptions are more commonly used.
Our scientists also perform comprehensive data analysis, which include calculation of biotic indices, multivariate statistical analysis, RIVPACS analysis and statements of the conservation status of rare and protected species, together with a thorough assessment and expert interpretative report writing service.
