Freshwater ecosystems cover less than 1% of the planet’s surface but support up to 10% of known species. The ecosystem services and benefits provided by freshwater insects are diverse and unexpectedly wide-ranging including decomposition and nutrient cycling, food for a wider range of species including humans, and the inspiration for art, music, and literature.
This talk will explore some of these services and benefits with examples from around the world.
FSC Natural History Live webinars are free online learning experiences for adults, comprising of a 30-40 minute talk from a guest speaker, followed by a question and answer session. We host them on Zoom and we will send out joining instructions on the day of the event. Sign up for the FSC Biodiversity newsletter to find out about our other online learning opportunities and receive exclusive discounts.
This event can be booked through the Natural History Live webinars Evenbrite page.
Tutor: Craig Macadam
Craig Macadam has been studying and recording freshwater invertebrates for over 25 years. His particular specialism is mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies, collectively known as 'riverflies'. Craig is the national recorder for mayflies and stoneflies and a founder member of the Riverfly Partnership. He co-authored the Field Studies Council pictorial key to mayflies and the fold out chart for stonefly families.
Cost
These Natural History Live webinars are made available to all at no cost. If you would like to contribute to the Natural History Live webinar programme you can do so by selecting the option to attend at a cost of £5. All donated fees contribute financially towards supporting adult learning opportunities for a range of audiences with the FSC. This event can be booked through the Natural History Live webinars Evenbrite page.
Example Timetable
The usual format of Natural History Live virtual events is:
- 5 minute intro by the FSC Biodiversity project team
- 30-40 minute talk presented by guest speaker
- 15-25 minute speaker Q&A session hosted by a FSC staff member
What's Included
-
Expert Tuition
Bursaries and Subsidies
FSC BioLinks
FSC BioLinks is an exciting project for FSC in the South East and West Midlands, bringing together existing volunteers with skills in biological recording and identification, and new volunteers.
This project provides subsidised training courses, learning opportunities and digital tools focussed on invertebrate identification for anyone involved or interested in biological recording, to build and strengthen the community.
Invertebrates provide us with many useful ecosystem services, like pollination and decomposition, which we cannot survive without but their numbers are declining. Few people know how to identify or record invertebrates meaning there is a lack of data
We are delighted to have been awarded a grant of £1.23 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for this project.
Before You Attend
Please note that after booking on to the event:
- You will need to download the Zoom software before we start. This is free and you can do so here: https://zoom.us/
- You can sign into the Zoom test meeting any time before to test if everything is working for you here: https://zoom.us/test
Sorry this course has ended