Intertidal Monitoring of Rocky Reefs in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire Marine Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) 2005
The Habitats Directive establishes that the management of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) should aim to achieve the favourable conservation status of habitat and species features listed within its Annex I and Annex II. For SACs in Wales, the former Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), now forming part of Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is therefore required to report on a regular basis on whether features are in favourable conservation status. The aim of this data capture was to establish a set of permanent monitoring sites representative of the rocky shore intertidal habitats within the Haven Waterway in order to implement a long-term monitoring programme. The purpose of this data capture and project was to collect and present baseline data on the current status of six sites within the Milford Haven waterway for future comparisons of distribution and abundance of rocky shore organisms. As part of the Pembrokeshire Marine SAC, monitoring of the Haven waterway is required to provide regular reporting on the condition of the Habitats Directive features within the SAC.
- Identification
- Extent
- Distribution
- Quality
- Keywords
- Spatial Reference System
- Content
- Constraints
- Maintenance
- Metadata
Identification
- Identifier
- NRW_DS101997
- Alternative Title
-
- 2005 CCW / IECS Pembrokeshire Marine SAC Milford Haven rocky reef monitoring (MRCCW30200000018)
- Metadata Language
- English
- Lineage
-
This dataset contains the results of a baseline survey of fixed quadrats across six rocky shore sites within the Milford Haven waterway in July 2005. The sites were chosen to represent an environmental gradient along the Haven in terms of salinity and wave exposure to mirror transects established by OPRU in 1995. However site selection was limited by the need to select sites that had suitable bedrock for permanent marking, reliable and reasonable access and suitable habitat throughout the shore. At each site samples were taken from three different shore heights- upper shore, middle shore and lower shore. Within each shore zone four 1m x 1m quadrats were permanently marked (placed in homogenous areas of inclined rock where possible, avoiding rock pools and large fissures). Photographs were taken of all quadrats and a habitat map produced to facilitate relocation. Within each 1m2 quadrat presence/absence data were recorded for all species using a 25 cell grid. This gave a frequency score of between 0 and 25 for each species. Organisms were identified to species level where possible with specimens being returned to the laboratory for verification where necessary. Species within the following taxa were aggregated for cell counts: barnacles, limpets, flat winkles, rough winkles, amphipods, Verrucaria spp (except Verrucaria mucosa). Further data were captured at the six sites via limpet counts, limpet population profile, barnacle species abundance, barnacle abundance, collection of small molluscs and crustacea and Ascophyllum nodosum population structure. The current survey provides baseline data for future comparisons. Data from previous surveys exist for five of the six sites, however previous monitoring was generally in the form of transect surveys using SACFOR abundance assessment (which has less resolution for detection of population change). As a consequence, results from these studies are not directly comparable to the data collected from this set of surveys.
- Dataset Reference Date (Publication)
- 2008-12-31
Temporal Extent
- Begin date
- 2005-07-23
- End date
- 2005-07-27
- Topic category
-
- Biota
Extent
Extent
- Geographic Extent
- SIR BENFRO - PEMBROKESHIRE
- Geographic Extent
- Wales (WLS)
))
Vertical Extent
- Medin Extent Keyword
-
benthic boundary layer
Distribution
- Format Type and Description
-
-
Database
(
Marine Recorder Online - Version 2.09.02
)
- Specification
-
Marine Recorder
-
Database
(
Marine Recorder Online - Version 2.09.02
)
Quality
Data quality
- Quality Scope
- Dataset
- Conformity
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services
- Explanation
-
This dataset has not been assessed for conformance to the referenced INSPIRE regulation.
- Degree
- false
- Lineage
-
This dataset contains the results of a baseline survey of fixed quadrats across six rocky shore sites within the Milford Haven waterway in July 2005. The sites were chosen to represent an environmental gradient along the Haven in terms of salinity and wave exposure to mirror transects established by OPRU in 1995. However site selection was limited by the need to select sites that had suitable bedrock for permanent marking, reliable and reasonable access and suitable habitat throughout the shore. At each site samples were taken from three different shore heights- upper shore, middle shore and lower shore. Within each shore zone four 1m x 1m quadrats were permanently marked (placed in homogenous areas of inclined rock where possible, avoiding rock pools and large fissures). Photographs were taken of all quadrats and a habitat map produced to facilitate relocation. Within each 1m2 quadrat presence/absence data were recorded for all species using a 25 cell grid. This gave a frequency score of between 0 and 25 for each species. Organisms were identified to species level where possible with specimens being returned to the laboratory for verification where necessary. Species within the following taxa were aggregated for cell counts: barnacles, limpets, flat winkles, rough winkles, amphipods, Verrucaria spp (except Verrucaria mucosa). Further data were captured at the six sites via limpet counts, limpet population profile, barnacle species abundance, barnacle abundance, collection of small molluscs and crustacea and Ascophyllum nodosum population structure. The current survey provides baseline data for future comparisons. Data from previous surveys exist for five of the six sites, however previous monitoring was generally in the form of transect surveys using SACFOR abundance assessment (which has less resolution for detection of population change). As a consequence, results from these studies are not directly comparable to the data collected from this set of surveys.
Keywords
Keywords
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2008-06-01
Keywords
-
NRW Thesaurus
-
- Pembrokeshire Marine SAC
- Marine Recorder
- Reef and rockpool
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2026-08-27
Keywords
Spatial Reference System
Content
Content Information
NRW Profile
Custom Elements
- NRW Related Title
-
Intertidal monitoring of rocky reefs in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire Marine SAC in 2005
Constraints
Constraints
Limitations on Public Access and Use
- Restriction type
- Other restrictions
Access Constraints Directive
- Limitations
- no limitations
Access Constraints Text
- Other constraints
-
There are no access restrictions to this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely.
Use Constraints
- Use constraints type
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
-
© CNC/NRW Data may be re-used under the terms of the Open Government Licence providing it is done so, acknowledging both the source and NRW's copyright. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose.
Attribution Statement
- Other constraints
-
Contains Natural Resources Wales information © Natural Resources Wales and Database Right. All rights Reserved.
Licence
- Other constraints
- Open Government Licence
Metadata
Metadata
- File Identifier
- 4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313031393937 XML
- Metadata Language
- English
- Parent Identifier
-
Across Wales Intertidal Monitoring Survey
NRW_DS109834
- Resource type
- Dataset
- Metadata Date
- 2026-10-19T14:33:01.387Z
- Metadata Standard Name
- NRW
- Metadata Standard Version
-
1.0