The UK has a long wetland history, 3000 years ago freshwater habitats covered most of the UK but with the development of agriculture and settlements many were lost to drainage. This decline has resulted in a pressing need to preserve the remaining wetland habitats in the UK, which are rich and diverse in the their nature.
| 
|
| Close up weltand © Roger Key |
Freshwater Habitats present in the UK
These habitats can also be divided into distinct types depending on environmental conditions where they are located for example: chalk rivers occur in calcareous areas.
Freshwater Invertebrates
 |
| A stonefly larva Dinocras cephalotes © Stuart Crofts |
Each habitat type has its own unique group of aquatic/wetland invertebrate species, and these species are adapted to the environmental conditions present. For example stonefly larvae have a body adapted to the fast flowing water of rivers, their shape is a flattened cylinder with short legs which are held away from the body allowing them to cling close to rocks.
