2006 Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) Sound of Barra broad-scale mapping survey
The purpose of this broad-scale mapping survey in the Sound of Barra and in the Sound of Eriskay in the vicinity of the causeway was to: extend the coverage of subtidal biotope mapping to encompass the central and western parts of the Sound; to conduct intertidal biotope mapping over the whole of the Sound including those areas surveyed subtidally in 2001 and to produce comprehensive biotope maps; and to assess biological changes occurring in the Sounf of Eriskay. This study utilised satellite imagery, underwater acoustic sensing techniques and biological ground surveys to develop a biotope distribution map of the area and relate this distribution to prevailing environmental conditions. The work was undertaken for SNH by the Universities of Heriot-Watt (HWU) and Edinburgh (EDU) between the 9th July and 12th August 2006 and acoustic data was supplied under subcontract by Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI). To collect this detailed biological information on the seabed species and habitat features present, records were acquired from a total of 204 subtidal stations. Of these, 137 were surveyed by drop-down video and 67 by diver. A total of 46 shore locations were visited and records acquired from 258 shore zones. Sediment infauna samples were collected from 56 locations (40 subtidal and 16 intertidal). 5 sites, previously surveyed in 2001 around the Eriskay causeway, were revisited and resurveyed by divers recording details of substrate, environmental conditions and biological communities. The images, analysed under SNH contract by Heriot-Watt University, University of Edinburgh and Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Belfast, were used to describe the nature of the seabed in terms of the physical structure and the species assemblages and assess anthropogenic induced change.
dataset
GB-SCT-SNH-ME-000109-MRSNH00300000004-SOB
http://www.nature.scot
eng
urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326
Harris, D.B., Malthus, T.J., Karpouzli, E., Moore, C.G., Lyndon, A.R., Mair, J.M., Service, M., Mitchell, A. (2007). Biotope mapping of the Sound of Barra, Scotland. Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No.258
biota
biota
revision
2008-01-06
revision
2009-11-16
creation
2011-02-16
creation
2011-07-06
creation
2012-02-14
creation
2012-03-16
revision
2005-04-27
creation
2006-08-31
creation
2017-05-12
publication
2017-10-31
-7.4604
-7.2270
57.1372
56.9594
creation
2009-06-18
Minches & Western Scotland
creation
2009-05-01
43E2
revision
2010-01-01
circalittoral
revision
2010-01-01
infralittoral
2006-07-09
2006-08-12
publication
2007-12-31
notPlanned
This subtidal and intertidal seabed data from the Sound of Barra was collected by Universities of Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh between the 9th July and 12th August 2006.The biotope mapping survey was conducted by 2 teams. Records were acquired from a total of 204 subtidal stations. Of these, 137 were surveyed by drop-down video and 67 by diver. A total of 46 shore locations were visited and records acquired from 258 shore zones. Sediment infauna samples were collected from 56 locations (40 subtidal and 16 intertidal) and all were selected for full identification and enumeration. One team (Team A) concentrated on deeper areas of the Sound surveying ground-truth stations by dropdown video. A representative selection of sedimentary habitats were sampled by Van Veen grab (0.1m2) to aid biotope identification. The second team (Team B) concentrated on shallow or inaccessible areas and stations were surveyed by diver. At each station divers spent 10 minutes recording details of substrate, environmental conditions and biological communities. The divers also recorded video footage to give an overview of the nature of the site. A representative selection of sedimentary habitats were sampled by 5 deployments of a 0.045m2 mini Van Veen grab to aid biotope identification. During periods of low tide each team visited a number of intertidal groundtruth stations. At each site surveyors recorded details of substrate, environmental conditions and biological communities dividing the shore profile into biological zones as appropriate. Zones of sufficient extent to be discernable on the satellite image were identified for use in the supervised classification of the image. In addition to field records, representative video footage and digital stills images were taken at each shore location. At selected sediment shores infaunal samples were collected, each sample consisting of 8 cores of 10 cm internal diameter taken to a depth of 15 cm. In addition, a dig-over was made of a 1m2 area and the presence of any fauna noted. Five sites around the Eriskay Causeway, previously surveyed in 2001, were revisited and resurveyed by divers recording details of substrate, environmental conditions and biological communities. The divers also recorded video footage to give an overview of the nature of the site. These sites included two maerl sites and one Zostera site. Two sites previously sampled for infauna in 2001 were re-sampled including one of the diver survey sites.
publication
2011-02-02
true
See the referenced specification
publication
2018-01-23
true
See the referenced specification
Not for navigational use; This survey recorded no species or biotope occurrences that SNH consider as sensitive; all records may therefore be released in response to requests covered by Environmental Information Regulations or Freedom of Information Regulations; additionally its re-use and dissemination is permissible under Open Government Licence terms. Any re-use of this data will acknowledge the copyright owner.
No restrictions on public access
Teaching Fellow
Heriot-Watt University School of Life Sciences
originator
Principal Investigator
Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI)
AFBI Headquarters Newforge Lane
Belfast
BT9 5PX
+44 (0)28 90 255689
+44 (0)28 90 255035
originator
Data Manager
Scottish Natural Heritage, Inverness
custodian
Data Manager
Scottish Natural Heritage, Inverness
pointOfContact
2020-03-25