2014 Natural England Shingle Street Coastal Lagoons biotope composition monitoring
MRNE017700000008
Survey name: 2014 Natural England Shingle Street Coastal Lagoons biotope composition monitoring This is a collation of surveys to gather data and evidence from a variety of marine environments. The survey purposes vary and include recommended Marine Conservation Zone (rMCZ) Phase I or II verification surveys, condition assessments, surveys of features of Natura 2000 sites (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area), Intertidal surveys, Benthic grab surveys and others. All surveys are carried out to specified standards and follow established methodologies. Attribution statement: © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right [year]. Attribution statement: Attribution statement: © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right [year].
dataset
https://data.nbn.org.uk/Datasets/GA001574
protocol: WWW:DOWNLOAD-1.0-http--download
name:
description: Natural England Access to Evidence Catalogue
57ebd6a8-08d0-46c6-9253-547c27854df6
eng
http://www.opengis.net/def/crs/EPSG/0/27700
environment
OpenData
NEbatch3
Habitats and biotopes
publication
2014-08-28
1.44
1.46
52.04
52.02
http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/doc/country/england
28/08/2014
29/08/2014
creation
2016-09-30
publication
2016-09-30
notPlanned
"The Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies (IECS) was commissioned by Natural England to undertake a monitoring study of the Shingle Street Lagoons SSSI. This was in order to establish the species composition and associated biotopes of the Shingle Street Lagoons on the Suffolk coast. Where appropriate, comparisons were made with information obtained in previous surveys, namely by Bamber (1997) and Natural England (2013). The Shingle Street coastal lagoons are located within the Orfordness Shingle Street Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Alde-Ore Estuary Special Protection Area (SPA) and Alde-Ore Estuary Ramsar site; these make up part of The Alde, Ore and Butley Estuaries European Marine Site (EMS). The site is located within the Alde-Ore Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI, Units 32 and 33). The coastal lagoon biotope communities are a key attribute of the SAC coastal lagoon feature. Coastal lagoons are bodies of water, natural or artificial, partially separated from the adjacent sea. The coastal lagoons in Shingle Street have been known to contain a variety of lagoonal specialists such as the starlet sea anemone. The lagoons are an important aspect of the EMS as they contribute to the diversity of the site but they are currently under pressure from roll-back and breaching of the shingle ridge on their seaward side. Aims and objectives. dThe main aim of this work was to establish the biotope composition of the Shingle Street coastal lagoons and, where possible, to comparatively analyse the condition of the communities against those identified in previous studies. The survey took into account attributes and techniques identified by Common Standards Monitoring (lagoons; JNCC, 2004), and was designed and conducted so that it: d{Provided an assessment of the direction of ecological change by the integration of previously obtained relevant data;an ecological baseline for attribute condition (from which to assess future change);suitably robust to enable the collection of compatible future data, permitting quantitative long term trend analysis;any anthropogenic influences that may influence the ability of the sub-feature to achieve Favourable Condition; andto collected data that were compatible (analytically) with historical survey data, or at least made reference to and utilised such historical data. dgeneral objectives of this survey were: d{A.Provide an assessment of the direction of ecological change in Shingle Street coastal lagoons by the integration of previously obtained relevant data.B.a survey design which is statistically robust enough to enable the collection of compatible future data permitting quantitative long term trend analysis.C.anthropogenic influences, impacting on the ability of the biotope composition to achieve Favourable Condition, to be identified and where possible quantified.D.possible, ensure that newly collected data is compatible (analytically) with historical survey data, but at the very least will make reference to and utilise such historical data. dCommon Standards Monitoring the attributes for which baseline data needed to be provided were identified as being: d{Salinity regime;composition of the lagoons, with sampling of the main habitats/sub-habitats within the site and biological samples to include infaunal community, plankton, larger aquatic fauna and fauna amongst vegetation;and extent of representative/notable biotopes/habitats, through identification of areas of different habitats, wherever possible, as part of the detailed site descriptions;composition of representative/notable biotopes/habitats;population measures (may include population structure of a species and/or presence or absence of a named species); daddition to the above, further relevant attributes that were deemed relevant to the study site, albeit not included in the Common Standards Monitoring Guidance of lagoons (JNCC, 2004), were: d{Habitats, with description of the main habitats (including fringing habitats) and substrata;environmental data including sediment granulometry, to give context to the species composition within the lagoons;quality parameters, including salinity, temperature, and pH.inputs; andactivities around and on the site. dSampling techniques dThe survey was carried out in accordance with the technical specifications provided by NE, as directed by the Common Standards Monitoring and Water Framework Directive Guidance as well as the NMBAQC Scheme.sites were accessed on foot and samples collected from the edge of each lagoon or from shallow waters, in order to reduce disturbance. dDescriptiondetailed description of each pool including submerged vegetation, surface features, notable species and habitats was recorded with the aid of laminated maps and aerial photographs, which were annotated in the field. The main habitats and substrata of the pools were described as well as the fringing habitats. Detailed notes on the water level, direction of the water flow (if any), likely direction of seawater input, and presence of freshwater inflow were also taken. The evidence of any areas of disturbance/relevant pressure, human activities, status of the surrounding embankments and of the ditches was also recorded.of the site and each sampling location were taken and photograph numbers recorded simultaneously with position, site number and date. The photographs were relabelled immediately upon return to the laboratory to ensure they could readily be linked to a particular site or sample.dGPS (Magellan Professional CX accuracy) was used to mark sampling positions. A full survey log was maintained throughout the survey detailing time of sampling, position (dGPS derived), station and station number (replicate), water depth, physical characteristics of the sample, texture and presence of surface features, RPD layer (cm), digital image number and/or time (cross referencing (QA)), climatic conditions and any other notable features. dInfauna dThirteen stations were sampled for benthic invertebrates in the lagoons. A standard size corer (11 cm internal diameter, 0.01m2 area) was used to take core samples, with five replicates collected per station to achieve a total sampled area of 0.05m2, as required by the survey specifications. Core samples were taken to a depth of 10 cm in the sediment. All infaunal samples were sieved on site in close proximity to the sample location, therefore ensuring any specimens passing through the sieve were returned to the original collection site. The replicate samples were sieved separately through a 0.5mm mesh and sieve residue preserved in stained 10% formalin (4% formaldehyde) solution. samples remained in storage at IECS for analysis (species identification and abundance), and three replicates per sample were processed at IECS laboratory, as required by NE. dand Large Zooplankton dThirteen stations were sampled for conspicuous nekton and larger zooplankton fauna in the lagoons by using a 0.25m wide push net (mesh size 250The net was swept along the lagoon edge and amongst vegetation (where present) at each station, with 3 replicate sweeps taken and a total swept area of 3.75m2 at each station, except for station 5.1, where 2 replicates only were taken due to the small size of the pools. Samples were taken and preserved in stained buffered formalin (4% formaldehyde) solution until identification was carried out at IECS laboratory. dCover and Associated Epifauna dThe submerged vegetation coverage (including macroalgae) was assessed by quadrat sampling (with 1m2 quadrat) in four stations where aquatic vegetation was present and where survey conditions allowed (vegetation along the lagoon margin). Vegetation was identified and percentage coverage in the quadrat recorded, along with an overall visual assessment. Three replicate quadrats were surveyed at each station.epifauna associated with the submerged vegetation was assessed by collecting 3 replicate samples at stations where conspicuous vegetation was present. These included the four stations where quadrat sampling was undertaken and two additional stations where aquatic vegetation was present farther from the margin. A fixed volume (0.5L) of algae was washed gently on a 0.5mm sieve and the sieve residue preserved in 10% formalin (4% formaldehyde) solution for identification in the IECS laboratory. When possible, identification was carried out on site, and some specimens for ID confirmation were kept. However, in some cases, numerous very small organisms were present that could not be identified in situ and the whole sample was kept for identification and enumeration. dquality and sediment characteristics dDepth, salinity, water temperature, turbidity, pH and dissolved oxygen were measured at all stations by using a Hydrolab Quanta Water Quality Monitoring System (Salinity accuracy +/- 1% of reading +/- 1 count, Resolution 0.01 PSS).each of the stations where infaunal coring was undertaken, one additional sediment sample was collected using the same sampling technique for Particle Size Analysis (PSA). These samples were stored at cool temperature in the IECS laboratory before being sent to the National Laboratory Service (NLS) for processing. d"
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11.0
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Natural England
data.services@naturalengland.org.uk
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england
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pointOfContact
Natural England
data.services@naturalengland.org.uk
pointOfContact
2020-03-19