Habitat point records from 1983 Rostron Isles of Scilly sublittoral sediment survey
The survey was carried out in July 1983 to obtain information on the communities present in the extensive shallow sublittoral sediments of the Isles of Scilly in relation to the proposals to establish a marine nature reserve there. Sites were chosen to be representative of different depths and exposures and also fairly evenly spaced throughout the survey area. A total of 9 sites were sampled. Sampling was achieved by means of a diver-operated suction sampler. Two 0.1 m/2 samples were obtained from each site for biological analysis and also one core sample for sediment analysis. All animals present in the samples were identified and the individuals of each taxon counted although no quantitative analyses of the data were attempted. Numbers of taxa obtained in each 0.2 m/2 area of sea bed ranged from 31 in homogeneous sand sediment to 104 from mixed gravel. Sediments around the Isles of Scilly were found to support a diverse fauna, especially at the deeper sites. The large variation in habitat conditions resulted in a mosaic of community types, some of which resembled communities previously described from other areas. Sediment particle size analyses were carried out for 6 of the 9 sites. Sediments were predominantly coarse gravel with small quantities of fine sand associated organic material. Many of the species present in the Isles of Scilly were characteristic of coarse sediments although areas of fine sand sediment were also present. The extensive beds of Zostera marina were of interest as they provided a particular habitat for a variety of species. The present survey was sufficient to describe only a limited number of sites. However, the results confirm the high diversity of communities present in the Isles of Scilly and demonstrate the very wide variety of rich and unusual shallow sedimentary habitats present within a small area.
dataset
name: 1983-Rostron-Isles-of-Scilly-sublittoral-sediment-survey.csv
d0f7b791-50ae-4ab1-8d8d-1a55e49af639
eng
Rostron (1983) Animal communities from sublittoral sediments in the Isles of Scilly. July 1983.
oceans
Marine
Marine Recorder
JNCCMNCR10000204
Habitat
MNCR
-6.371744817
-6.242422643
49.98449825
49.87170789
1983-07-06
1983-07-14
publication
2007-04-25
This survey was extracted from a Marine Recorder snapshot.
Comma Separated Values
Unknown
Open Government Licence v3.0
no limitations
Digital and Data Solutions, JNCC
custodian
Digital and Data Solutions, JNCC
pointOfContact
2018-05-17