Intertidal Monitoring of Rockpools, Caves and Overhangs in Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in 2007

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 Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) was therefore required to report on a regular basis on whether features were in favourable conservation status.


There were two purposes for this data capture:


- To provide an inventory and distribution map of selected biotopes present to use as a reference condition for the rocky shore habitat communities in the SAC.

- To describe gross changes in these features since the Phase 1 survey (1999-2001) to give some indication of their stability.


The rocky shore areas that lies within the SAC includes a number of rockpool, overhang and cave features that are considered to be nationally important biotopes and/or Rare or Scarce in Wales and others that are considered to be important for their biodiversity. These potentially species rich rocky habitats were therefore surveyed to provide an inventory of these sub features for future survey work.


The confidence in this data is high as surveys were carried out by a team of experienced marine biologists.

Identification

Identifier
NRW_DS111180
Alternative Title
  • 2007 CCW/ASML Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries SAC Rockpool and Overhang monitoring (MRCCW16300000008)
Metadata Language
English
Lineage

Locations of recorded rockpools, overhangs and caves in Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries SAC were compiled from the CCW Phase 1 database. Records were grouped by geographic area and GPS units and maps were used by the survey teams to navigate to the recorded position of each feature.


If there was no relevant biotope feature present at the recorded position of a Phase 1 survey record but a similar biotope was present in the vicinity, it was assumed that the original record had been inaccurately fixed, so an accurate GPS fix was made and tagged to the original record.


If there was no relevant biotope feature present at the recorded position of a Phase 1 survey record and no similar biotope in the vicinity, it was assumed that the biotope was no longer present, if the surveyors found additional examples of notable rockpools, overhangs or caves, an accurate GPS fix was taken and in-situ records made in the same way as all the other records.


A brief description was recorded of the habitat and communities within each feature e.g. size of feature, its level on the shore, dominant and characteristic species/taxa and other notable features of condition or potential anthropogenic impacts. Photographs were taken to illustrate the feature.


Phase 1 surveys of intertidal habitats in the SAC were carried out in the SAC between 1999 and 2001 (Brazier et al. 2007), providing detailed mapping of the intertidal biotopes with some information on characterizing species.
Dataset Reference Date (Publication)
2009-03-31

Temporal Extent

Begin date
2007-06-11
End date
2007-06-15
 
Topic category
  • Biota
Owner
  Natural Resources Wales (NRW) -
Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales
http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en
Originator
  Aquatic Survey and Monitoring Ltd (ASML) -
Whitfield Brow, Bollihope, Frosterley, Weardale, Co. Durham, DL13 2SZ, England
http://www.marineseen.com/aquatic_survey_and_monitoring.htm
 

Extent

Extent

Geographic Extent
Wales (WLS)
N
W
E
S
Map representing the geographic extent of the dataset


 

Vertical Extent

Medin Extent Keyword

benthic boundary layer
 
 

Distribution

Format Type and Description
  • Database ( Marine Recorder Online - Version 2.09.02 )

    Specification

    Marine Recorder

 

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

Locations of recorded rockpools, overhangs and caves in Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries SAC were compiled from the CCW Phase 1 database. Records were grouped by geographic area and GPS units and maps were used by the survey teams to navigate to the recorded position of each feature.


If there was no relevant biotope feature present at the recorded position of a Phase 1 survey record but a similar biotope was present in the vicinity, it was assumed that the original record had been inaccurately fixed, so an accurate GPS fix was made and tagged to the original record.


If there was no relevant biotope feature present at the recorded position of a Phase 1 survey record and no similar biotope in the vicinity, it was assumed that the biotope was no longer present, if the surveyors found additional examples of notable rockpools, overhangs or caves, an accurate GPS fix was taken and in-situ records made in the same way as all the other records.


A brief description was recorded of the habitat and communities within each feature e.g. size of feature, its level on the shore, dominant and characteristic species/taxa and other notable features of condition or potential anthropogenic impacts. Photographs were taken to illustrate the feature.


Phase 1 surveys of intertidal habitats in the SAC were carried out in the SAC between 1999 and 2001 (Brazier et al. 2007), providing detailed mapping of the intertidal biotopes with some information on characterizing species.
 

Keywords

Keywords

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0
Type
Theme

Citation

Date (Publication)
2008-06-01
Code
geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.httpinspireeceuropaeutheme-theme

Keywords

NRW Thesaurus
  • Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries SAC
  • Marine Recorder
  • Specialised biotope overhangs
  • rockpools
  • Specialised biotope Rockpools
Type
Theme

Citation

Date (Publication)
2026-08-27
Code
geonetwork.thesaurus.local.theme.converted_nrw-keywords

Keywords

SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary
Type
Theme

Citation

Date (Publication)
2024-06-19
Code
geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.rdf+xml
 

Spatial Reference System

Code
British National Grid (EPSG::27700)
 

Content

Content Information

NRW Profile

Custom Elements

NRW Related Title

Intertidal SAC monitoring Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries SAC June 2007
NRW Related Title

Intertidal SAC monitoring Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries SAC September 2008
 

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
4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313131313830 XML
Metadata Language
English
Parent Identifier
Across Wales Intertidal Monitoring Survey

NRW_DS109834
Resource type
Dataset
Metadata Date
2026-10-19T09:35:17.614Z
Metadata Standard Name
NRW
Metadata Standard Version

1.0

pointOfContact
  Natural Resources Wales (NRW) -
Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales
http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en
 
 

Publishing Body

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