Duncanrig students take the plunge

This term at Duncanrig Secondary some new students were getting to grips with riverfly monitoring for the first time as part of their biology lessons. Their local burn, a small tributary of the Kittoch Water, flows beneath the school and is a short walk away. One pupil donned chest waders to take a sample for the rest of the class to see what is thriving in the water right next to their school. As much of the river is culverted upstream in Westwood, the fly-life was slightly impoverished – not many of the groups found score on the ARMI index. The sample did however yield freshwater hog-louse, plenty of leeches and blackfly larvae! It was great to get outdoors and learn about the factors affecting biological water quality and biological indicators species!