Danby Beck

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• Location: North York Moors, Yorkshire
• Type: Stream
• Catchment area: 77 ha
• Annual rainfall: -
• Sampling station altitude: 299 m
• Maximum altitude: 432 m

Situated in the North York Moors, Danby Beck was added to the Network in 2011, when systematic chemical and biological sampling commenced. Surface water acidity data however has been collected since 1990 by Environet, a local volunteer group. The long-term historic pH record plus the site's geographical location in an area of high acid deposition, not originally represented within the original UK Acid Waters Monitoring Network, led to the decision to incorporate Danby Beck into the network.

A sub-catchment in the headwaters of the River Esk, the 77 hectare Danby Beck catchment lies between an elevation of 299m at the sampling point/biological survey section and an altitude of 432m at the trig point to the south east.

The underlying geology is Jurassic, sedimentary and largely consists of two main formations, with another two present at the bottom of the catchment. Transitions between them broadly follow the contour lines of the valley. Capping the higher areas is sedimentary bedrock of the Scarborough Formation. Below this lie the undifferentiated sandstone, siltstone and mudstone of the Saltwick and Cloughton Formations. A thin band of Dogger Formation sandstone then overlies Whitby Mudstone, which is only present in the area immediately around the sampling station at the bottom of the catchment.

The site is highly designated. Both the Beck and the catchment lie within the North York Moors SAC, SPA, SSSI and National Park. The catchment also falls within the North York Moors Upland land Management Initiative, a Catchment Sensitive Farming area and is under Entry plus Higher Level Stewardship.

In the biological survey stretch the stream is approximately 1.5m wide, with a number of pools, riffles and small waterfalls. The substrate is a mixture of cobbles, pebbles, sand and gravel but there are also several areas of large boulders and exposed bedrock.

[collapsed title="Water chemistry"]

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Excess SO₄^2- = all sulphate not derived from marine salts; Cl^-  = chloride; NO₃^- = nitrate; DOC = dissolved organic carbon; Labile Al = inorganic monomeric (labile) aluminium; ANC = Acid Neutralising Capacity (determined by the difference (in equivalents) between total base cation concentration and total acid anion concentration); Gran Alkalinity = alkalinity determined by a Gran titration; Ca²⁺ = calcium; Mg²⁺ = magnesium.

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[collapsed title="Epilithic diatoms"]

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Annual mean percentage abundance of the most common diatom taxa in replicate samples of the biofilm of stone surfaces. Taxa are arranged in the plot so that those that had their highest percentage abundances at the beginning of the monitoring record appear at the top of the figure, and those that have become most common at the end of the record appear at the bottom.

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[collapsed title=Macroinvertebrates]

Abundance of the most common macroinvertebrate taxa as a percentage of all individuals collected in five bulked kick samples. Taxa are arranged in the plot so that those with their highest percentage abundances at the beginning of the monitoring record appear at the top of the figure, and those that have become most common at the end of the record appear at the bottom.

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• Map resources
• APIS results for Danby Beck

[collapsed title=Danby Beck Bibliography]

• Shilland, E. M., Monteith, D. T., Millidine, K. & Malcolm, I. A. (2016) The United Kingdom Upland Waters Monitoring Network Data Report for 2014-2015 (year 27). Report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Contract EPG 1/3/160). 1-290. ENSIS Ltd. Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London, London.
• Battarbee, R. W., Shilland, E. M., Kernan, M., Monteith, D. T. & Curtis, C. J. (2014) Recovery of acidified surface waters from acidification in the United Kingdom after twenty years of chemical and biological monitoring (1988-2008). Ecological Indicators, 37, Part B, 267-273.
• Evans, C. D., Chadwick, T., Norris, D., Rowe, E. C., Heaton, T. H. E., Brown, P. & Battarbee, R. W. (2014) Persistent surface water acidification in an organic soil-dominated upland region subject to high atmospheric deposition: The North York Moors, UK. Ecological Indicators, 37, Part B, 304-316.
• Shilland, E. M., Monteith, D. T., Millidine, K. & Malcolm, I. A. (2014) The United Kingdom Upland Waters Monitoring Network Data Report for 2013-2014 (year 26). Report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Contract EPG 1/3/160). 1-282. ENSIS Ltd. Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London, London.
• Shilland, E. M., Monteith, D. T., Millidine, K. & Malcolm, I. A. (2014) The United Kingdom Upland Waters Monitoring Network Data Report for 2012-2013 (year 25). Report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Contract EPG 1/3/160). 1-259. ENSIS Ltd. Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London, London.
• Balmford, D. S. (2011) Spatial and temporal water quality in the River Esk in relation to freshwater pearl mussels. 1-137. Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/861/.
• Bolland, J. D., Bracken, L. J., Martin, R. & Lucas, M. C. (2010) A protocol for stocking hatchery reared freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 20, 695-704.
• Robinson, K. S. (2006) Spatial patterns of fine sediment supply and transfer in the River Esk, North York Moors. 1-167. Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2784/.
• Evans, C. D., Norris, D. & Rowe, E. C. (2005) A regional water and soil quality survey of the North York Moors. Report to the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under Contract No. CPEA 19. 1-14. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor, Wales.

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