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Natural England (NE) commissioned APEM to carry out a biological survey of the saline lagoon on Brownsea Island, within the Poole Harbour SPA and SSSI. Coastal lagoon communities are a key attribute of the SPA and SSSI coastal lagoon features The aim of this survey is to make a preliminary assessment of change within the lagoon absed on historical data. The methods employed within this study followed previous monitoring activities reporting on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of five key lagoonal quality features: benthos, nekton, flora and fauna amongst vegetation, epifauna and physicochemical condition. Results of sampling were compared with the previous survey of the lagoon undertaken by Herbert et al. (2010). These data were then used to indicate whether any changes in physicochemical parameters or biota were evident to make a preliminary assessment of change since this prevous survey. Six sampling stations were selected to correspond with historical sampling stations whilst a further six were added to provide greater coverage and detail on the condition of the lagoon. The sampling consisted of qualitative Phase I and quantitative Phase II survey. For the Phase I survey, the main biota present in and around the lagoon were recorded including the main vegetation taxa present, and records were taken of conspicous invertebrate fauna and megafauna (e.g. insects and birds). Preliminary biotope maps for the lagoon were produced in situ based on observed sediment types and biota which were further refined based on the results of the quantitative sampling. During the Phase I survey, notes were also taken relating to the nature of any isolating barriers and the presence of any potential anthropogenic pressures. The Phase II survey consisted of recording physicochemical parameters in the water column, collecting and analysing in situ semi-quantitative sweep net samples of the nekton, recording taxa found on vegetation, collecting benthic core samples for subsequent laboratory analysis (enumeration and biomass) and obtaining samples for particle size analysis. Core data were analysed to determine simiarity across invertebrate communities recorded at different stations using SIMPROF in PRIMER v6. The communtiy of organisms present in the lagoon was discussed and the presence of any lagoon specialists and/or non-native species was highlighted. Across the lagoon physicochemical data were found to be within the range expected of lagoonal systems and broadly comparable with the findings of Herbert et al. (2010), although sediments were found to be slightly coarser in nature in the current survey. Brownsea Island lagoon is a percolation lagoon with movement of water through the gravel below the dyke between the lagoon and adjacent littoral habitats. There were also two sluices to the southeast that provided more direct connection to the sea and woodland, marsh and freshwater pools to the west. The extent of the lagoon basin determined from aerial imagery was calculated in GIS to be 16.7 Ha. The main body of the lagoon was dominated by a biotope in the complex: Sublittoral mud in low or reduced salinity (lagoons) SS.SMu.SMuLS (Connor et al. 2004) that included large numbers of the Starlet anemone (Nematostella vectensis). The lagoon margin especially along the western boundary of the lagoon included the biotope Phragmites australis swamp and reed bedsâ?? SS.SMP.Ang.S4. Following Bamber et al. (1997) the subtidal biotopes in the lagoon would be ENLag.IMS.Ann and ENLag.Veg. The biological communities appear to have remained relatively similar between the current survey and that of Herbert et al. (2010). There appears to have been a slight increase in biodiversity manifested through higher taxon counts at comparable stations, although given the increased number of sampling stations a full comparison across the entire lagoon was not feasible. Station BS8 appeared notably impoverished in regards to the biotic community relative to other sampling stations, which likely derives from its partial separation from the main lagoon. The presence of Capitella as a main species here suggests organic enrichment, possibly a result of bird excrement. Station BS12 was close to a sluice and to a site previously sampled qualitatively; it included species that reflect greater saline influence. This preliminary condition of assessment based on historical data from Herbert et al. (2010) indicated that the lagoon has remained in similar condition over the last five or so years. The increased sampling stations in the current survey indicated a greater range of species than previously recorded and the results confirm that the lagoon is home to a range of lagoonal specialist taxa as well as a significant population of the nationally rare starlet anemone (N. vectensis).
Natural England
No restrictions to public access
Other details | ||
Internal code | Internally assigned metadata identifier | 3510 |
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. | 2015 Natural England Brownsea Island Lagoon Condition Assessment |
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. | 5f0fd7177f8cbeaa40ad552a13e875ba |
Resource Identifier | This is the code assigned by the data owner. | NE_1422 |
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 | 2015-09-15 |
End date | This describes the date the resource ends. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 2015-09-16 |
Spatial resolution | This describes the spatial resolution of the dataset or the spatial limitations of the service. | inapplicable |
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. | Natural England (NE) commissioned APEM to carry out a biological survey of the saline lagoon on Brownsea Island, within the Poole Harbour SPA and SSSI. Coastal lagoon communities are a key attribute of the SPA and SSSI coastal lagoon features The aim of this survey is to make a preliminary assessment of change within the lagoon absed on historical data. The methods employed within this study followed previous monitoring activities reporting on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of five key lagoonal quality features: benthos, nekton, flora and fauna amongst vegetation, epifauna and physicochemical condition. Results of sampling were compared with the previous survey of the lagoon undertaken by Herbert et al. (2010). These data were then used to indicate whether any changes in physicochemical parameters or biota were evident to make a preliminary assessment of change since this prevous survey. Six sampling stations were selected to correspond with historical sampling stations whilst a further six were added to provide greater coverage and detail on the condition of the lagoon. The sampling consisted of qualitative Phase I and quantitative Phase II survey. For the Phase I survey, the main biota present in and around the lagoon were recorded including the main vegetation taxa present, and records were taken of conspicous invertebrate fauna and megafauna (e.g. insects and birds). Preliminary biotope maps for the lagoon were produced in situ based on observed sediment types and biota which were further refined based on the results of the quantitative sampling. During the Phase I survey, notes were also taken relating to the nature of any isolating barriers and the presence of any potential anthropogenic pressures. The Phase II survey consisted of recording physicochemical parameters in the water column, collecting and analysing in situ semi-quantitative sweep net samples of the nekton, recording taxa found on vegetation, collecting benthic core samples for subsequent laboratory analysis (enumeration and biomass) and obtaining samples for particle size analysis. Core data were analysed to determine simiarity across invertebrate communities recorded at different stations using SIMPROF in PRIMER v6. The communtiy of organisms present in the lagoon was discussed and the presence of any lagoon specialists and/or non-native species was highlighted. Across the lagoon physicochemical data were found to be within the range expected of lagoonal systems and broadly comparable with the findings of Herbert et al. (2010), although sediments were found to be slightly coarser in nature in the current survey. Brownsea Island lagoon is a percolation lagoon with movement of water through the gravel below the dyke between the lagoon and adjacent littoral habitats. There were also two sluices to the southeast that provided more direct connection to the sea and woodland, marsh and freshwater pools to the west. The extent of the lagoon basin determined from aerial imagery was calculated in GIS to be 16.7 Ha. The main body of the lagoon was dominated by a biotope in the complex: Sublittoral mud in low or reduced salinity (lagoons) SS.SMu.SMuLS (Connor et al. 2004) that included large numbers of the Starlet anemone (Nematostella vectensis). The lagoon margin especially along the western boundary of the lagoon included the biotope Phragmites australis swamp and reed bedsâ?? SS.SMP.Ang.S4. Following Bamber et al. (1997) the subtidal biotopes in the lagoon would be ENLag.IMS.Ann and ENLag.Veg. The biological communities appear to have remained relatively similar between the current survey and that of Herbert et al. (2010). There appears to have been a slight increase in biodiversity manifested through higher taxon counts at comparable stations, although given the increased number of sampling stations a full comparison across the entire lagoon was not feasible. Station BS8 appeared notably impoverished in regards to the biotic community relative to other sampling stations, which likely derives from its partial separation from the main lagoon. The presence of Capitella as a main species here suggests organic enrichment, possibly a result of bird excrement. Station BS12 was close to a sluice and to a site previously sampled qualitatively; it included species that reflect greater saline influence. This preliminary condition of assessment based on historical data from Herbert et al. (2010) indicated that the lagoon has remained in similar condition over the last five or so years. The increased sampling stations in the current survey indicated a greater range of species than previously recorded and the results confirm that the lagoon is home to a range of lagoonal specialist taxa as well as a significant population of the nationally rare starlet anemone (N. vectensis). |
Lineage | Lineage includes the background information, history of the sources of data, data quality statements and methods. | All GIS data were produced using ArcGIS 9.2. All waypoints were recorded during the survey using a Garmin Etrex 10 handheld GPS unit. Biotope boundaries were determined using a combination of field notes/maps and aerial imagery obtained from APGB Geostore. |
Related keywords | ||
Keyword | 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 | Geology | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Habitats and biotopes | |
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 | Fauna abundance per unit area of the bed | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Zoobenthos taxonomy-related abundance per unit area of the littoral zone | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Habitat extent | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Habitat characterisation | |
General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Sediment grain size parameters | |
Geographical coverage | ||
North | The northern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 50.6964 |
East | The eastern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -1.9547 |
South | The southern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 50.6881 |
West | The western-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -1.9664 |
Regional sea | Eastern Channel | |
unknown | ||
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 | APEM Limited | |
Individual name | Soren Pears | |
Role | The distributor is the person or organisation that distributes the resource. | distributor |
Organisation name | Natural England | |
Position name | Data Manager | |
Phone | +44 (0)845 600 3078 | |
Fax | +44 (0)1733 455103 | |
Delivery point | Northminster House | |
Postal code | PE1 1UA | |
City | Peterborough | |
Role | The originator is the person or organisation who created, collected or produced the resource. | originator |
Organisation name | APEM Limited | |
Individual name | Soren Pears | |
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 | Natural England | |
Position name | Data Manager | |
Phone | +44 (0)845 600 3078 | |
Fax | +44 (0)1733 455103 | |
Delivery point | Northminster House | |
Postal code | PE1 1UA | |
City | Peterborough | |
Dataset constraints | ||
20 Limitations on Public Access - Access constraints | ISO restriction code chosen from ISO 19115-1 Codelist | otherRestrictions |
20 Limitations on Public Access – Other constraints | Any restriction on the use of the resource such as the need to agree to certain licence conditions. | No restrictions to public access |
21 Conditions for Access and Use - Use limitation | Any restrictions imposed on accessing the resource such as the need to agree to certain licence conditions. | Data is freely available for research or commercial use providing that the originators are acknowledged in any publications produced |
Available data formats | ||
Data format | Format in which digital data can be provided for transfer | Geographic Information System |
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. | 2016-02-22 |
Metadata date | The date when the content of this metadata record was last updated. | 2016-11-15 |
Metadata standard name | The name of the metadata standard used to create this metadata | MEDIN Discovery metadata standard |
Metadata standard version | The version of the MEDIN Discovery Metadata Standard used to create the metadata record | 2.3.8 |
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