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Project properties |
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| Title | Intensity of agricultral practice and ecological quality in drainage ditches |
| Group | Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 24-30 |
| Supervisor(s) | Edwin Peeters |
| Examiner(s) | Edwin Peeters |
| Contact info | edwin.peeters@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2015/04/01 |
| End date | 2017/12/31 |
| Description | Agricultural practice is influencing the water quality and the ecological quality in adjacent drainage ditches in most polders in the Netherlands. This is a.o. due to the use of fertilizers and pesticides, the hydrological requirements and maintenance of the watercourses. In some areas agricultural activity has become more extensive over the last past 10 years with much less pressure on the aquatic life in the ditches. It remains, however, rather unclear whether in these areas ecological quality has increased. In this project ecological quality will be investigated and compared in a number of ditches, situated in polders that differ in agricultural pressure. Both macroinvertebrates and macrophytes may be studied, together with a few abiotic conditions. |
| Used skills | |
| Requirements | affinity with field- & labwork, identification of organisms |