Rivers

Small native fish eat a range of benthic invertebrates in streams. The larvae of mayflies and caddisflies are the most important food species, with chironomids being important for juvenile fish and in streams where all other prey are scarce.

These guides are designed for rapid identification of freshwater flora and fauna for use in biomonitoring.

Work is underway to develop a proposed national quality assurance (QA) framework for community-based monitoring (CBM) of Aotearoa New Zealand’s freshwaters.