Freshwater invertebrates including mayflies, caddisflies, and water beetles are essential components of river and lake ecosystems whose welfare is affected by pollution, physical disturbance, and flow alteration.
Freshwater invertebrate welfare exists at the intersection of welfare science and conservation biology. The welfare status of individual mayflies and caddisflies is uncertain given their simple nervous systems, but their ecological role as the base of aquatic food webs means their wellbeing is foundational to the welfare of fish, birds, and mammals that depend on them. Pesticide runoff, nutrient pollution, physical habitat disturbance from dredging, and water abstraction all harm invertebrate communities at population level. Individual welfare impacts from pollution include neurological disruption from pesticides and oxygen deprivation from algal blooms. River restoration including returning channels to natural morphology, removing barriers, and reducing bank erosion dramatically improves invertebrate community richness.