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Metadata: Select marine epifauna abundance and taxonomic data collected in the UK continental shelf and wider North Sea between 1987 and 2023
Abstract:
This dataset contains records of marine epifaunal communities collected using 2 metre (m) beam trawl surveys between 1987 and 2023 from across the United Kingdom (UK) continental shelf and the wider North Sea. The dataset takes the form of trawl-derived abundance and taxonomic information, harmonised through the OneBenthic database and standardised using the World Register of Marine Species (`WoRMS`_). It was compiled to support large-scale analysis of spatial patterns in epifaunal taxon richness, abundance, and assemblage composition, with the aim of informing marine spatial planning, licensing, and conservation management. Users should note that the dataset excludes pelagic taxa, larval stages, and areas licensed for anthropogenic activities such as dredging and renewable energy. .. _`worms`: https://www.marinespecies.org/
Data holder:
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS)
| Other details | ||
| Internal code | Internally assigned metadata identifier | 9652 |
| Title | The title is used to provide a brief and precise description of the dataset such as 'Date', 'Originating organisation/programme', 'Location' and 'Type of survey'. All acronyms and abbreviations should be reproduced in full. | Select marine epifauna abundance and taxonomic data collected in the UK continental shelf and wider North Sea between 1987 and 2023 |
| File Identifier | The File Identifier is a code, preferably a GUID, that is globally unique and remains with the same metadata record even if the record is edited or transferred between portals or tools. | CEFAS4f6bea1a-5de8-4347-a4fa-9375bc5b0bf0 |
| Resource Identifier | This is the code assigned by the data owner. | CEFAS22305 |
| Resource type | The resource type will likely be a dataset but could also be a series (collection of datasets with a common specification) or a service. | dataset |
| Start date | This describes the date the resource starts. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 1987-11-01 |
| End date | This describes the date the resource ends. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 2023-07-26 |
| Frequency of updates | This describes the frequency with which the resource is modified or updated i.e. a monitoring programme that samples once per year has a frequency that is described as 'annually'. | notPlanned |
| Abstract | The abstract provides a clear and brief statement of the content of the resource. | This dataset contains records of marine epifaunal communities collected using 2 metre (m) beam trawl surveys between 1987 and 2023 from across the United Kingdom (UK) continental shelf and the wider North Sea. The dataset takes the form of trawl-derived abundance and taxonomic information, harmonised through the OneBenthic database and standardised using the World Register of Marine Species (`WoRMS`_). It was compiled to support large-scale analysis of spatial patterns in epifaunal taxon richness, abundance, and assemblage composition, with the aim of informing marine spatial planning, licensing, and conservation management. Users should note that the dataset excludes pelagic taxa, larval stages, and areas licensed for anthropogenic activities such as dredging and renewable energy. .. _`worms`: https://www.marinespecies.org/ |
| Lineage | Lineage includes the background information, history of the sources of data, data quality statements and methods. | Epifaunal data were collected between 1987 and 2023 during 110 surveys across the United Kingdom (UK) continental shelf and North Sea using 2 metre (m) beam trawls fitted with either a 4 millimetre (mm) or 5 mm cod-end mesh. Trawls were conducted at speeds of less than 2 knots and tow lengths of less than 2 kilometres (km). The data were collated within the OneBenthic database, which integrates publicly available benthic datasets from governmental, academic, and industry sources. Raw records were harmonised to family level taxonomy using the World Register of Marine Species (`WoRMS`_) to ensure consistency across sources. Quality control included exclusion of pelagic taxa, larval stages, and taxa better sampled using sediment grabs, as well as capping of extreme abundances at 1,000 individuals per taxon per sample to minimise the influence of outliers. Colonial taxa (e.g. hydroids and sponges) were included as presence records with an assigned abundance of one, in line with established practice for benthic data integration. Spatial autocorrelation was assessed using empirical semi-variograms, and 983 samples within 2 km of each other were removed to reduce bias, resulting in a final dataset of 1,400 trawl samples. The dataset was further standardised by excluding samples collected within areas subject to direct anthropogenic disturbance (e.g. dredging, extraction, disposal, renewable energy infrastructure). Overall, the dataset represents a high-quality, harmonised baseline of epifaunal abundance and composition across a broad spatial and temporal extent. While care was taken to address inconsistencies between data sources, users should note that differences in survey design, identification practices, and spatial coverage may influence comparability at fine scales. Code repository (`https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17743282`_) documents the sql queries that subset the trawl data to exclude those that do not confirm to required conditions .. _`worms`: https://www.marinespecies.org/ .. _`https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17743282`: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17743282 |
| Related keywords | ||
| Keyword | General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Biota abundance, biomass and diversity |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Species distribution | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Benthic boundary | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Sediment | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Infralittoral | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Circalittoral | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Deep Circalittoral | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Marine Environmental Data and Information Network | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | data.gov.uk | |
| Geographical coverage | ||
| North | The northern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 60.5 |
| East | The eastern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 13 |
| South | The southern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 48 |
| West | The western-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -12 |
| Responsible organisations | ||
| Role | The point of contact is person or organisation with responsibility for the creation and maintenance of the metadata for the resource. | pointOfContact |
| Organisation name | Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) | |
| Delivery point | Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory, Pakefield Road | |
| Postal code | NR33 0HT | |
| City | Lowestoft | |
| Administrative area | Suffolk | |
| Country | UK | |
| data.manager@cefas.co.uk | ||
| Role | The originator is the person or organisation who created, collected or produced the resource. | originator |
| Organisation name | Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) | |
| Delivery point | Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory, Pakefield Road | |
| Postal code | NR33 0HT | |
| City | Lowestoft | |
| Administrative area | Suffolk | |
| Country | UK | |
| data.manager@cefas.co.uk | ||
| Role | The custodian is the person or organisation that accepts responsibility for the resource and ensures appropriate care and maintenance. If a dataset has been lodged with a Data Archive Centre for maintenance then this organisation is be entered here. | custodian |
| Organisation name | Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) | |
| Delivery point | Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory, Pakefield Road | |
| Postal code | NR33 0HT | |
| City | Lowestoft | |
| Administrative area | Suffolk | |
| Country | UK | |
| data.manager@cefas.co.uk | ||
| Role | The distributor is the person or organisation that distributes the resource. | distributor |
| Organisation name | Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) | |
| Delivery point | Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory, Pakefield Road | |
| Postal code | NR33 0HT | |
| City | Lowestoft | |
| Administrative area | Suffolk | |
| Country | UK | |
| data.manager@cefas.co.uk | ||
| Role | The owner is the person or organisation that owns the resource. | owner |
| Organisation name | Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) | |
| data.manager@cefas.co.uk | ||
| Role | The owner is the person or organisation that owns the resource. | owner |
| Organisation name | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) | |
| defra.helpline@defra.gov.uk | ||
| Role | The owner is the person or organisation that owns the resource. | owner |
| Organisation name | British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA) | |
| bmapa@mineralproducts.org | ||
| Role | The owner is the person or organisation that owns the resource. | owner |
| Organisation name | The Crown Estate | |
| enquiries@thecrownestate.co.uk | ||
| Role | The owner is the person or organisation that owns the resource. | owner |
| Organisation name | UK Oil and Gas Industry Ltd | |
| publications@oguk.org.uk | ||
| Resource locators | ||
| Locator URL | Web address (URL) that links to the resource | https://data.cefas.co.uk/view/22305 |
| Locator name | Name of the web resource | Cefas Data Portal |
| Dataset constraints | ||
| 20.1 Limitations on Public Access - Access constraints | This states `otherRestrictions` from ISO vocabulary RestrictionCode and is an INSPIRE/GEMINI requirement. | otherRestrictions |
| 20.2 Limitations on Public Access - Other constraints | noLimitations | |
| 21.1 Conditions for Access and Use - Use constraints | This states `otherRestrictions` from ISO vocabulary RestrictionCode and is an INSPIRE/GEMINI requirement. | otherRestrictions |
| 21.2 Conditions for Access and Use - Other constraints | https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ | |
| Version info | ||
| Date of publication | The publication date of the resource or if previously unpublished the date that the resource was made publicly available via the MEDIN network. | 2025-11-28 |
| Date of last revision | The most recent date that the resource was revised. | 2026-01-29 |
| Date of creation | The date that the resource was created. | 2025-09-01 |
| Harvest date | The date which this record has been (re)harvested from the provider. | 2026-04-19 |
| Metadata date | The date when the content of this metadata record was last updated. | 2026-01-29 |
| Metadata standard name | The name of the metadata standard used to create this metadata | MEDIN |
| Metadata standard version | The version of the MEDIN Discovery Metadata Standard used to create the metadata record | 3.1.1 |