Carmarthen Bay Intertidal Attributes and Monitoring Techniques - Monitoring of Piddocks
dataset
https://portal.medin.org.uk/portal/start.php?tpc=007_4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313032303335
Under the 1992 EC Habitats and Species Directive, the UK submitted a list of candidate Special Areas of Conservation (cSACs) to the European Commission (EC). Each cSAC is selected for one or more of the habitat types and species listed in Annexes I and II of the Directive. This process was undertaken largely in 1995-1996. The piddock Pholas dactylus occurs in Britain from Kent along the south and south-west coasts including south Wales, Anglesey and Solway (Hill 2004). It has also been recorded from several sites on the east coasts of Yorkshire and Northumbria and southwest Ireland. The surface of the peat or clay bed is characterised by dense algal mats and pools of standing water (JNCC 2004). The presence of piddocks is instantly identified by holes in the substratum. The aim o
f this data capture was to map the current known extent and density of boring molluscs, piddocks, across the biotope at Marros Sands and Whiteford Point, and record any mussel spat or seed on the biotope. Piddocks are bivalves that bore clay and peat exposures. The survey work is largely a trial to determine the best means by which to record the extent of the exposures as well as the populations of piddocks. Sand levels are found to change over time, seasonally, annually and as a result of one off weather events (storms), and thus the areas of populated peat and clay also vary. A non-destructive means of assessing the piddock population is considered.
20090131