Assessing the Vulnerability of Marine Habitats in Wales to the Impacts of Climate Changes (2011)

Climate change is recognised as a major environmental issue and the process of global change and climate will impact upon many aspects of everyday life, presenting a serious threat to the natural environment. In response to the scientific and political consensus of a need to tackle climate change the UK government bought into law the climate change act 2008. This requires a Strategic Climate Change Risk Assessment (SCCRA) to be carried out every five years, the first of which will need to be completed by November 2011.


This project was carried out to develop a methodology to assess the vulnerability of Welsh marine habitats to the impact of climate change and to use this method to undertake an assessment of welsh marine habitats. This assessment helped enable the identification of those habitats most at risk from climate change and it is envisaged that this information will be used to inform management plans and government policy and decision making.

Identification

Identifier
NRW_DS114713
Metadata Language
English
Lineage

Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) ran a workshop to scope how to assess the vulnerability of marine habitats to climate change in March 2010. Three main issues were discussed:

1) The concept and methodologies for vulnerability assessment;

2) Potential parameters that might be used in any vulnerability assessment of marine biodiversity around Wales;

3) Potential receptors that might be used in any vulnerability assessment of marine biodiversity around Wales.


The final session focused in next steps for CCW in taking forward its vulnerability assessment work. 84 habitats were screened at a broad level to identify 15 that would be assessed further.


The 15 habitats were as follows; Horse mussel beds, Littoral mussel beds, Sabellaria Reef, Peat and clay exposures, Kelp with cushion fauna, Fucoids on sheltered marine shores, Kelp and red seaweeds, Echinoderms and crustose communities, Circalittoral mixed sediments, Coastal Saltmarsh, Intertidal mudflats, Littoral seagrass beds, Oyster beds, Sublittoral seagrass beds and Saline lagoons.


The distribution and extent of these habitats were collated and an evaluation was then undertaken to assess vulnerability of two criteria (habitat distribution/extent and habitat quality and/or ecosystem function) to climate change Details of the methodology are describe in CCW Contract Science Report 969. Confidence in this dataset is high as surveys were undertaken by experienced staff members. Vulnerability assessment was carried out 2010 / 2011 and vulnerability data; layers finalised in February 2011.
Additional Information

Information about the workshop and habitat work are available in CCW Science Report 934 and 969.
Dataset Reference Date (Publication)
2011-06-01

Temporal Extent

Begin date
2011-02-24
End date
2011-02-24
 
Topic category
  • Biota
Owner
  Natural Resources Wales (NRW) -
Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales
http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en
Originator
  HR Wallingford -
HR Wallingford, Howberry Park, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BA
http://www.hrwallingford.com
 

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
  • Geographic Information System ( )

    Specification

    MapInfo GIS layers

 

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

Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) ran a workshop to scope how to assess the vulnerability of marine habitats to climate change in March 2010. Three main issues were discussed:

1) The concept and methodologies for vulnerability assessment;

2) Potential parameters that might be used in any vulnerability assessment of marine biodiversity around Wales;

3) Potential receptors that might be used in any vulnerability assessment of marine biodiversity around Wales.


The final session focused in next steps for CCW in taking forward its vulnerability assessment work. 84 habitats were screened at a broad level to identify 15 that would be assessed further.


The 15 habitats were as follows; Horse mussel beds, Littoral mussel beds, Sabellaria Reef, Peat and clay exposures, Kelp with cushion fauna, Fucoids on sheltered marine shores, Kelp and red seaweeds, Echinoderms and crustose communities, Circalittoral mixed sediments, Coastal Saltmarsh, Intertidal mudflats, Littoral seagrass beds, Oyster beds, Sublittoral seagrass beds and Saline lagoons.


The distribution and extent of these habitats were collated and an evaluation was then undertaken to assess vulnerability of two criteria (habitat distribution/extent and habitat quality and/or ecosystem function) to climate change Details of the methodology are describe in CCW Contract Science Report 969. Confidence in this dataset is high as surveys were undertaken by experienced staff members. Vulnerability assessment was carried out 2010 / 2011 and vulnerability data; layers finalised in February 2011.
 

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
  • biotope sensitivity database
  • climate change (climatic change)
  • vulnerability
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
Latitude and Longitude (EPSG::4326)
 

Content

Content Information

NRW Profile

Custom Elements

NRW Related Title

Assessing the vulnerability of marine biodiversity in Wales to the impacts of climate change : workshop report
NRW Related Title

Assessing the vulnerability of marine habitats in Wales to the impacts of climate change
 

Constraints

Constraints

Limitations on Public Access and Use

Restriction type
Other restrictions
 

Access Constraints Directive

Limitations
no limitations
 

Access Constraints Text

Other constraints

Part of this dataset is sensitive and restricted. The sensitive data includes the location of oyster habitats. Sensitive data must be kept confidential; general release is not permitted due to risk of harm to the environment or third parties. Sensitive data may only be released under an appropriate NRW Licence. Requests should be referred to NRW's Access to Information Officer. Data may be released freely if the sensitive records are removed in advance, or shown only at a coarser scale.
 

Use Constraints

Use constraints type
Other restrictions
Other constraints

© CNC/NRW, 2011. Recipients may only re-use sensitive data in strict confidence under the terms of an appropriate NRW Licence. No publication or dissemination is permitted, except if sensitive records are removed in advance, or shown only at a coarser scale.
 

Attribution Statement

Other constraints

Contains Natural Resources Wales information © Natural Resources Wales and Database Right. All rights Reserved.
 

Licence

Other constraints
NRW Conditional
 
 
 

Metadata

Metadata

File Identifier
4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313134373133 XML
Metadata Language
English
Resource type
Dataset
Metadata Date
2026-09-30T09:14:39.713Z
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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