50dc0dbc-3f2d-4474-8a4c-7305ad34c9d8 dataset ABP Marine Environmental Research 02380711840 Quayside Suite, Medina Chambers, Town Quay Southampton enquiries@abpmer.co.uk pointOfContact 2025-04-08 MEDIN Discovery Profile 2.3.8 1980-2023, Bangor University, FRONTWARD, Marine biodiversity indices and predictions for UK EEZ with links to shelf-sea fronts Three datasets (MMLnorm; mammal biodiversity, BRDnorm; bird biodiversity, FSHnorm; fish biodiversity) that detail biodiversity indices throughout the UK EEZ (for mammals and birds) and in the North Sea (for fish). The underlying data that comprises the biodiversity values were collected between 1980 and 2023 using a range of survey methods. Further packages include overall and seasonal predictions of detected biodiversity incorporating the effects of shelf-sea fronts and internal waves. The Crown Estate +44 020 7851 5000 1 St James's Market London SW1Y 4AH enquiries@thecrownestate.co.uk custodian Plymouth Marine Laboratory Prospect Place The Hoe Plymouth PL1 3DH forinfo@pml.ac.uk originator Bangor University School of Ocean Sciences Menai Bridge, Anglesey Menai Bridge LL59 5AB oss011@bangor.ac.uk originator University of Aberdeen, School of Biological Sciences +44 (0)1224 272861 Zoology Building, Tillydrone Avenue Aberdeen AB24 2TZ marie.duncan@abdn.ac.uk originator Marine Environmental Data and Information Network Biodiversity indices Research and Development Activity Research Marine Environmental Data and Information Network Marine Environmental Data and Information Network eng oceans Shapefile Spreadsheet inapplicable https://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk/details/TCE-4133/summary A link to the web service or dataset. https://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk A link to the general host site. The underlying data can be split into groups that are distinct in how the data have been collected and collated. These are the bird/mammal datasets, and the fish datasets. The bird/mammal datasets are comprised of at-sea animal observation surveys collated from several data sources between 1980 and 2022. Within this, the survey methodology varies from manual visual vessel surveys, such as observers posted on ferry routes, to aerial video surveys. Throughout the 40-year period some areas within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) have been extensively surveyed, whilst others have been visited only once or not at all. It is necessary to collate the entire 40-year period in order to achieve reasonable spatial coverage throughout the EEZ. The fish datasets used in this project are not observations as such, but are catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) within the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Statistical Areas. These surveys have been conducted only in the North Sea, within which there has been relatively evenly-spaced sampling between 2010 and 2023. Combining the bird/mammal datasets with the fish dataset is a process that must therefore account for the very different ways in which these data have been collected so that they are weighted equally in the resulting biodiversity index.