Case study:Saving Chiswick Eyot
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Project overview
Status | In progress |
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Project web site | |
Themes | Economic aspects, Habitat and biodiversity, Social benefits |
Country | England |
Main contact forename | Martin |
Main contact surname | Richardson |
Main contact user ID | User:Mobilitydream |
Contact organisation | Natural History Museum |
Contact organisation web site | http://www.nhm.ac.uk |
Partner organisations | Royal Holloway University of London, MoLA, Fullers |
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects |
Project summary
Saving Chiswick Eyot
Martin D. Richardson1, 2, Paul Clark1, David Morritt2
1Department of Zoology, the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London. 2Royal Holloway University of London, Department of Biosciences, Egham, Surrey.
Chiswick Eyot (meaning island) is a small, historically important island in the Thames near Chiswick Mall that is subject to erosion caused in part by burrowing mitten crabs. Crab burrows occur in high densities at the site in excess of 30 per square metre. Individual burrows may be 70 cm in length and 5 cm in diameter so the amount of soil excavated is significant and the banks of the island are considerably weakened as a result thereby accelerating erosion. We are in the process of establishing an ‘ecosystem’ of partners to address the problem of maintaining the island employing best practice techniques. An initial 3D scan of the entire island will be conducted in association with the Museum of London Archaeology (MoLA), and Leica Geosystems. Subsequent, annual scans will permit calculation of the rate of erosion with analysis of the contribution made by the mitten crab burrowing. A conventional topographic survey of part of one bank was undertaken by MoLA in 2002 and this will allow decadal scale assessment of the erosion rate caused by mitten crab burrows. High resolution aerial photographs and digitized historical Ordnance Survey maps are available dating back to at least the 1930s and these will be used to assess migration of the Eyot up and down the river, and permit analysis of changes to the island itself in terms of long term erosion. We hope to engage the local community and form partnerships with other organisations including Thames21, the River Restoration Centre, Leica Geosystems, MoLA, and Royal Holloway University of London. Funding is being sought from both commercial and academic sources. Additionally we plan to include international partners: the California department of fish and wildlife as well as several international researchers involved in invasive mitten crab work.
Monitoring surveys and results
Lessons learnt
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Catchment
Subcatchment
Other case studies in this subcatchment: Barking Creek near A13, Barking Creekmouth, Chambers Wharf, Cuckolds Haven Nature Area, Greenwich Peninsula, Lower River Roding Regeneration Project, Mill Pool, Wandsworth Riverside Quarter
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Project background
Cost for project phases
Reasons for river restoration
Measures
MonitoringHydromorphological quality elements
Biological quality elements
Physico-chemical quality elements
Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic
Monitoring documents
Additional documents and videos
Additional links and references
Supplementary InformationEdit Supplementary Information
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