Intertidal Monitoring of Piddock Beds in Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) 2009

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. This data was captured to support a number of reporting requirements. These were namely reporting on conservation status of the piddock feature; mapping the boundary of the clay and peat exposures; to record the density of the piddock holes; and evaluate the best sampling methods. Carmarthen Bay SAC was designated for five Annex I intertidal habitat features: Estuaries; Mudflats and sandflats not covered by seawater at low tide; Large shallow inlets and bays; Salicornia and other annuals colonising mud and sand; Atlantic salt meadows (Glauco- Puccinellietalia maritimae). Specific areas of interest include the peat and clay beds burrowed by piddocks and the monitoring aimed to map the boundary of the clay/peat exposures, record the density of the piddock holes and evaluate the best sampling methods.

Identifier: NRW_DS114942

Alternative Title

2009 CCW / ASML Carmarthen Bay SAC intertidal piddock bed monitoring MRCCW16300000022
Gwaith Monitro Rhynglanwol ar Welau Pidogau yn ACA Bae Caerfyrddin ac Aberoedd 2009

Metadata Language: English

Lineage: The bed was divided into three blocks (western, eastern, central) and to sample randomly thrown quadrats (0.25 m2) within each block. In the event, it was found that the piddock distribution was clumped along the edges of channels and thus the randomly thrown quadrats were missing most of the piddocks. Because of this, part of the way through the exercise the method was adapted to targeting areas of piddock holes rather than sampling the whole clay exposure. In addition to the quadrat work, a number of timed counts of piddock holes were also carried out, with the intention of making a comparison between the two approaches to help with planning future monitoring work. Piddock beds were first mapped at Marros Sands near Pendine and Whiteford Point on the north Gower coast during Phase 1 surveys carried out by CCW in 2000.The piddock beds are vulnerable to shifting beach sand, a natural phenomenon. No beds were found at Whiteford Point in 2009, although monitored previously in 2004. Data quality and confidence is considered high as all surveys were completed by professional and experienced marine field surveyors. Piddock beds were first mapped at Marros Sands near Pendine and Whiteford Point on the north Gower coast during Phase 1 surveys carried out by CCW in 2000.

Dataset Reference Date (Publication): 2012-06-30

Temporal Extent

Begin date: 2009-09-20

End date: 2009-09-21

Topic category

Biota

Owner

Natural Resources Wales (NRW)

Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales

http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en

Originator

Countryside Council for Wales (CCW). Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems Group

Maes y Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales

http://www.ccw.gov.uk

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

Geographic Extent: SIR GAERFYRDDIN - CARMARTHENSHIRE

Vertical Extent

Medin Extent Keyword: benthic boundary layer

Format Type and Description

Documents Documents ()

Specification

A] Digital versions of the contract report: Microsoft Word document(s); and an equivalent Adobe Portable Document Format version. [B] MapInfo GIS layers in MapInfo Native format (Tables): - Boundaries of peat and clay outcrops - Position of the sample stations [C] Excel spreadsheets with transect physical and species data [D] Photographs of the area, sites, samples and quadrats. [E] Marine Recorder file [MRCCW16300000022].

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
Degree: false

Lineage: The bed was divided into three blocks (western, eastern, central) and to sample randomly thrown quadrats (0.25 m2) within each block. In the event, it was found that the piddock distribution was clumped along the edges of channels and thus the randomly thrown quadrats were missing most of the piddocks. Because of this, part of the way through the exercise the method was adapted to targeting areas of piddock holes rather than sampling the whole clay exposure. In addition to the quadrat work, a number of timed counts of piddock holes were also carried out, with the intention of making a comparison between the two approaches to help with planning future monitoring work. Piddock beds were first mapped at Marros Sands near Pendine and Whiteford Point on the north Gower coast during Phase 1 surveys carried out by CCW in 2000.The piddock beds are vulnerable to shifting beach sand, a natural phenomenon. No beds were found at Whiteford Point in 2009, although monitored previously in 2004. Data quality and confidence is considered high as all surveys were completed by professional and experienced marine field surveyors. Piddock beds were first mapped at Marros Sands near Pendine and Whiteford Point on the north Gower coast during Phase 1 surveys carried out by CCW in 2000.

Keywords

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

Species distribution

Type: Theme

Citation

Date (Publication): 2008-06-01

Code: geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.httpinspireeceuropaeutheme-theme

Keywords

NRW Thesaurus

intertidal
Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries SAC
Piddocks
Clay
Peat

Type: Theme

Citation

Date (Publication): 2023-12-31

Code: geonetwork.thesaurus.local.theme.converted_nrw-keywords

Keywords

SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary

Zoobenthos taxonomy-related counts
Habitat extent

Type: Theme

Citation

Date (Revision): 2021-01-06

Code: geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.rdf+xml

Keywords

Integrated Public Sector Vocabulary

MONITORING

Type: Theme

Citation

Date (Revision): 2013-04-03

Code: geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.subjects

Code: British National Grid (EPSG::27700)

Content Information

NRW Profile

Custom Elements

NRW Related Title: Intertidal SAC monitoring Carmarthen Bay SAC September 2009

Constraints

Limitations on Public Access and Use

Restriction type: Other restrictions

Access Constraints Directive

Limitations: no limitations

Access Constraints Text

Other constraints: The following data is considered OS derived data and is therefore jointly owned by NRW and the Ordnance Survey. NRW may release, publish or disseminate this data freely; providing recipients are made aware of use restrictions (See general use restrictions).

Use Constraints

Use constraints type: Other restrictions

Other constraints: © CNC/NRW and © Crown copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Natural Resources Wales, AC0000849444. Third parties seeking to re-use this data require a Licence issued by NRW. It allows re-use, reproduction and dissemination in any format or medium but only for non-commercial purposes, according to the terms and conditions of the Licence. Those seeking commercial re-use require a commercial licence available from the OS.

Metadata

File Identifier: 4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313134393432 XML

Metadata Language: English

Parent Identifier: Across Wales Intertidal Monitoring Survey
NRW_DS109834

Resource type: Dataset

Metadata Date: 2024-05-31T09:39:43.706Z

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

Access the portal

Full access to the portal and metadata.

Intertidal Monitoring of Piddock Beds in Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) 2009

Identification

Temporal Extent

Extent

Extent

Vertical Extent

Distribution

Quality

Data quality

Keywords

Keywords

Citation

Keywords

Citation

Keywords

Citation

Keywords

Citation

Spatial Reference System

Content

Content Information

NRW Profile

Custom Elements

Constraints

Constraints

Limitations on Public Access and Use

Access Constraints Directive

Access Constraints Text

Use Constraints

Metadata

Metadata

Publishing Body