In a study of local rivers, experts at the University of Nottingham have discovered more invertebrates – animals without a backbone, such as insects and snails - living on litter than on rocks.
In urban rivers where there are no better alternatives, litter provided the largest, most stable and complex habitat available for invertebrates to live on.
The findings could have important implications for the management of urban rivers, including how river clean-up events are conducted.
The research team, in the School of Geography, studied three local rivers; the River Leen, Black Brook, and Saffron Brook, in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire by collecting samples of rocks and litter from the riverbeds to compare in their laboratory.
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