Priority Marine Habitats of Wales: Subtidal Sand and Gravels
UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority habitats cover a wide range of semi-natural habitat types, and were those that were identified as being the most threatened and requiring conservation action under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP). The UK BAP habitats and species lists have been used to draw statutory lists of priority habitats as required under Section 42 of the Natural Environmental and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006. The habitats listed as priority habitats include; blue mussel beds, Fragile sponge and anthozoan communities, Tide swept channels, Horse mussel beds, Maerl beds, Honeycomb worm reefs, Seagrass beds, Oyster beds, Intertidal boulder communities, Intertidal mudflats, mud habitats in deep water, Sheltered muddy gravels, subtidal mixed muddy sediments, Estuarine rocky habitats, Peat and clay exposures, Carbonate reefs, Musculus discors beds, Saline lagoons, Coastal Saltmarsh and Subtidal sands and gravels. The data is related to Subtidal sand and gravels only. Sand and gravel seabeds are widespread. Those found to the west of the UK include a high proportion of shell fragments, whereas those from the North Sea are mainly formed from rock. They occur in a range of environmental conditions, from wave-sheltered, enclosed bays and estuaries to highly exposed open coasts. The mix of sand or gravel, and any sand waves or ripples present on the surface of the seabed, depend on factors such as the strength of the waves and tides. The communities of animals that live in this habitat are also determined by the environmental conditions. There tend to be fewer animals where waves and tides are strong, and the communities there will be characterised by rapid burrowers such as bristleworms, tube worms, bivalve shells and shrimp-like creatures, and perhaps by crabs, hermit crabs and sea snails on the surface of the seabed. Majority of the records are from the 1960s onwards. This data is still in draft format and has not yet been finalised. All habitat records include a confidence measure. Decisions about how these were applied are documented in the processing notes for each habitats.
- Identification
- Extent
- Distribution
- Quality
- Keywords
- Spatial Reference System
- Content
- Constraints
- Maintenance
- Metadata
Identification
- Identifier
- NRW_DS114742
- Alternative Title
-
- Marine Bap Habitats Subtidal Sands and Gravels BGS.LYR
- Cynefinoedd Morol a blaenoriaeth yng Nghymru (Tywod a graean islanwol)
- Metadata Language
- English
- Lineage
-
The data was collated from a wide range of sources, including but not limited to Marine Recorder, Phase 1 Intertidal, HabMap, Marine Monitoring Data. Habitats layers were produced as both polygon and point data for many of the habitats. Each layer is accompanied by processing notes detailing data sources and all decisions made in creating the layers. A standard template was also produced and documented for attributing the GIS layers and general assumptions that could be made. The habitat layers build on and replaced work started in the CCW BAP Atlas.
- Dataset Reference Date (Publication)
- 2012-12-31
Temporal Extent
- Begin date
- 1960-01-01
- End date
- 2012-12-31
- Topic category
-
- Biota
Extent
Extent
- Geographic Extent
- Wales (WLS)
))
Vertical Extent
- Medin Extent Keyword
- benthic boundary layer
Vertical Extent
- Minimum value (metres)
- 5
- Maximum value (metres)
- -40
- Vertical CRS
Distribution
- Format Type and Description
-
-
Geographic Information System
()
- Specification
-
[A] ESRI Feature Class [B] Additional information is held in word documents.
-
Geographic Information System
()
Quality
Data quality
- Quality Scope
- Dataset
- Lineage
-
The data was collated from a wide range of sources, including but not limited to Marine Recorder, Phase 1 Intertidal, HabMap, Marine Monitoring Data. Habitats layers were produced as both polygon and point data for many of the habitats. Each layer is accompanied by processing notes detailing data sources and all decisions made in creating the layers. A standard template was also produced and documented for attributing the GIS layers and general assumptions that could be made. The habitat layers build on and replaced work started in the CCW BAP Atlas.
Keywords
Keywords
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2008-06-01
Keywords
- NRW Thesaurus
-
- intertidal
- BAP priority habitat
- OSPAR
- mussel beds
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Publication)
- 2023-12-31
Keywords
- SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary
-
- Habitat extent
- Habitat characterisation
- Type
- Theme
Citation
- Date (Revision)
- 2021-01-06
Keywords
Spatial Reference System
Content
Content Information
NRW Profile
Custom Elements
Constraints
Constraints
Limitations on Public Access and Use
- Restriction type
- Other restrictions
Access Constraints Directive
- Limitations
- no limitations
Access Constraints Text
- Other constraints
-
This data is comprised of a mixture of third party owned records and NRW records. NRW policies permits access to and release of this data under the same terms as its own data. There are no access restrictions on this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely.
Use Constraints
- Use constraints type
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
-
© CNC/NRW 2011 NRW owns the copyright of the collation, but the ownership of the records themselves rests with the originator. 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.
Metadata
Metadata
- File Identifier
- 4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313134373432 XML
- Metadata Language
- English
- Parent Identifier
-
Priority Marine Habitats of Wales (Archived 2012)
NRW_DS114674
- Resource type
- Dataset
- Metadata Date
- 2024-12-09T12:39:51.235Z
- Metadata Standard Name
- NRW
- Metadata Standard Version
-
1.0