Applications

Many applications for the River Habitat Survey have been developed over the years. This section includes examples of such applications:

  • ToolHab, a Decision Support System developed for the Environment Agency for prioritising sites for habitat enhancement work for fish. The tool is based on Microsoft Access 2007 and includes GIS layers, environmental data and models to help with the assessment of habitat quality for fish and the identification of habitat management strategies.
  • The Riverside Explorer, and educational CD-ROM produced in 2002 to make RHS data and photographs available to geography teachers along with additional material, maps and teaching modules. It was distributed for free to 23,000 schools in England and Wales and targeted children from age 9 to 14.
  • Additional research has been carried out by universities and consultancies that is summarised in this section. It includes mapping fine sediments and assessing the risk of fine sediment input on habitats, reintroducing species, assessing habitat quality for species and communities etc.
  • A version of the River Habitat Survey for urban rivers was also developed by Angela Gurnell’s team at Quenn Mary (University of London). It features a form similar to RHS and it has been applied to a series of rivers in major urban areas such as London and Birmingham (see the Urban River Survey page for more information)