230784a8d4a5b368e1b49d0cb40f782a English dataset Natural England Marine Data Manager +44 (0)300 060 3900 +44 (0)300 060 2356 Foss House, Kings Pool, 1-2 Peasholme Green York YO1 7PX enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk pointOfContact 2017-01-17 MEDIN Discovery metadata standard 2.3.8 urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326 2012 Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies (IECS) and Natural England (NE) Morecambe Bay, condition assessment of intertidal mud and sand features 2012-12-03 publication NATENG000262 http://www.naturalengland.org.uk Report following a study of Morecambe Bays mudflats and sandflats. The study aimed to assess the condition of these intertidal areas with the aim of providing Natural England (NE) with a baseline on which to base future monitoring and surveillance. The report includes the distribution of biotopes within the Morecambe Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC), species compositions and sediment characteristics. Further, the biotope information is comparred with that from previous studies and composition and distribution changes noted. N. Bhatia Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies dassh.enquiries@mba.ac.uk originator T Smith Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies dassh.enquiries@mba.ac.uk originator S Thomson Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies dassh.enquiries@mba.ac.uk originator Natural England Marine Data Manager +44 (0)300 060 3900 +44 (0)300 060 2356 Foss House, Kings Pool, 1-2 Peasholme Green York YO1 7PX enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk custodian notPlanned Database Delimited Documents Geographic Information System Marine Environmental Data and Information Network Habitats and biotopes Species distribution GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-01-06 revision Fauna abundance per unit area of the bed Habitat extent Habitat characterisation SeaDataNet P021 parameter discovery vocabulary 2009-11-16 revision Accessible under Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ otherRestrictions Accessible under Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ English biota biota Charting Progress 2 Sea Areas 2009-06-18 creation Irish Sea ICES Rectangles 2009-05-01 creation 36E6 ICES Rectangles 2009-05-01 creation 37E6 ICES Rectangles 2009-05-01 creation 36E7 ICES Rectangles 2009-05-01 creation 37E7 International Hydrographic Bureau, Limits of Oceans and Seas 1954-01-01 creation Irish Sea and St. George's Channel ICES Statistical Areas 2014-05-16 creation VIIa -3.2520 -2.7397 53.9092 54.2018 2012-02-13 2012-07-06 Natural England Marine Data Manager +44 (0)300 060 3900 +44 (0)300 060 2356 Foss House, Kings Pool, 1-2 Peasholme Green York YO1 7PX enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk distributor http://www.dassh.ac.uk DASSH homepage A link to the general host site dataset Report following a study of Morecambe Bays mudflats and sandflats. The study aimed to assess the condition of these intertidal areas with the aim of providing Natural England (NE) with a baseline on which to base future monitoring and surveillance. Phase 1 of the survey involved biotope mapping along 400m wide predetermined transects. Biotopes were mapped up to 400m from the cerntral line giving a maximum width of 800m. For each distinct biotope the substrate, surface features and dominant species were all noted. Details were recorded using standard MNCR forms. In situ sediment particle analysis (PSA) was undertaken at each biotope. Less conspicuous species desitities were estimated by digging over a small area. Phase 2 sampling using corers was also undertaken to identify the infaunal community. Three biotopes were subject to additional core sampling. The results section includes the PSA results, species abundaces for each transect, site descriptions and photographs. Finally, a discussion of the condition of the intertidal sediments and biotopes is presented.