APEM undertakes investigations of the physical and biological characteristics of inland water bodies (including heavily modified and artificial waterbodies) for a wide range of purposes and clients. European legislation such as the Water Framework Directive is driving the need for high quality assessment monitoring and management of standing waters and increasing demand for these services from various clients mean that APEM currently has opportunities for enthusiastic Limnologists. APEM adopt an interdisciplinary approach to aquatic science, incorporating investigations of aquatic ecology, hydrology and geomorphology relevant to modern approaches to environmental management and allowing APEM to deliver projects with greater effect.
The investigations undertaken at APEM typically employ specific evaluation tools/indices which are increasingly used by regulatory agencies to assess ecosystem condition for the purposes of conservation, restoration, mitigation and habitat creation. Using a similar approach to the assessment of running water sites, APEM can focus on the identification and classification of habitats and using a variety of tools, assess various impacts upon freshwater ecosystems. These studies require detailed surveys of aquatic macroinvertebrates, macrophytes and/or fish for which APEM are industry leaders, and are used in turn to indicate the hydrological quality of the site.
APEM have further experience in monitoring physical components of lake ecosystems including water quality (temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, conductivity, transparency, and suspended solids) and chemical characteristics (ammonia, biological oxygen demand, nutrient levels, and chlorophyll concentration). Surveys can also combine the assessment of biological indicators of water quality including phytoplankton, zooplankton and microbiology.
A related area of APEM expertise includes bathymetric surveying where we have considerable experience in conducting Sonar surveys using state-of-the-art equipment and post-processing software tools for the assessment of river and lake bathymetry. Recent examples of APEM’s hydro-acoustic work include our determination of fish density in shallow SSSI lakes for Natural England as a means of understanding their role in ecosystem functioning and lake condition. We have also recently utilised hydro-acoustics in combination with sediment sampling to determine a bottom-typing model of the River Loddon to investigate the impacts of proposed weir modification on sediment transport.
The role you play in the Limnology team will be dependent upon your experiences and position as highlighted in the grades / job descriptions featured on the vacancy page.
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