Back to rivers

So where has all the wildlife gone?

Water quality is generally improving, although the river corridors of the Peak District have generally suffered for a variety of reasons:

Past and present farming practice has led to the pollution of some of the Peak District's rivers and streams.

Agricultural run-off - fertilisers, manure and slurry running from the land into water courses - can change the nutrient composition of the water.  Increases in nitrogen and phosphate levels have resulted in the loss of certain species not able to tolerate this type of nutrient rich environment.  For example, some algae proliferate in nutrient rich water but crowd out the growing space of other plants.  Pesticides and herbicides have also added to the problem.

The drainage of wetland has led to the loss of plants that prefer water-logged soils, resulting in the decline of the insect and bird populations such as lapwing and curlew.  For more information on the lapwing and curlew visit the hay meadows section.

Lapwing courtesy Andrew Hay

Curlew courtesy Chris Gomersall

Grazing close to rivers and the use of heavy farm machinery has led to the destruction of the grassy banks used by the water vole to make their tunnels and burrows.

Cotton mills and reservoirs have both played a major part in changing the shape of the Peak District's rivers.

In the past, the development of water powered mills resulted in the diversion and channelling of rivers and streams.  This often involved removing the grassy banks preferred by the water voles and other wildlife.

More recently, reservoirs have flooded huge valleys, in one case leading to the extinction of the insectivorous (insect eating) plant, the Greater Sundew, from the Peak District.

Today, water abstraction schemes to maintain our drinking water supply and treat our waste water can cause a serious drop in water levels and changes in composition.

Introduced species such as Japanese knotweed, signal crayfish, mink and Himalayan balsam have led to our native species literally being crowded out.  The native white-clawed crayfish is in serious decline mainly due to the American signal crayfish that has escaped from crayfish farms.  The water vole is also under threat, partly as a result of predation by the mink and domestic cats.

Recreational pressure has led to the disturbance of water voles and nesting birds along the river and stream banks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back to top