Identification

Title

Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS) macrofaunal biomass in mudflat and saltmarsh habitats

Abstract

The dataset details macrofaunal biomass across 6 intertidal sites in the winter and summer of 2013. The data provide a quantitative measure of the biomass of individual invertebrate species present within the top 10cm of sediment. Three sites were located in Essex, South East England and the other 3 in Morecambe Bay, North West England. Each site consisted of a saltmarsh habitat and adjacent mudflat habitat. 22 sampling quadrats were placed in each habitat covering 4 spatial scales. 3 replicate cores of sediment were collected at each quadrat. They were sieved on a 0.5mm mesh and the macrofauna was removed, identified to species (or appropriate taxon) and individuals of each species weighed. Values for macrofaunal biomass are expressed as grams per square metre of sediment. Biomass data for mudflat habitats across Essex and Morecambe are complete, however, saltmarsh data is only available for one full Essex site (Tillingham Marsh), in one season (winter) and across all sites, at the 1m scale. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/0990858a-facc-47c5-bfbe-58fa30431db8

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/data/0990858a-facc-47c5-bfbe-58fa30431db8

name: Download the data

description: Download a copy of this data

function: download

https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/sd/0990858a-facc-47c5-bfbe-58fa30431db8.zip

name: Supporting information

description: Supporting information available to assist in re-use of this dataset

function: information

Unique resource identifier

code

https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/0990858a-facc-47c5-bfbe-58fa30431db8

codeSpace

doi:

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

oceans

Keywords

Keyword set

Keyword set

keyword value

BESS

CBESS

macrofauna

biomass

biodiversity

mudflat

salt marsh

sediment

benthic

intertidal

season

spatial scale

species

Macona balthica

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

-3

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

54.25

South bounding latitude

51.5

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

2013-01-01

End position

2013-08-01

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2015-12-31

date type

creation

effective date

2013-08-01

Frequency of update

notPlanned

Quality and validity

Lineage

The location of the sample sites was determined by randomly allocated quadrats. Twenty two 1 x 1 m quadrats were randomly allocated to each mudflat and saltmarsh site using R (R Development Core Team, 2014) to specify four different spatial scales (A = 1 quadrat only, B = 3 quadrats at 1 m to 10 m apart, C = 6 quadrats at 10 m to 100 m apart, D = 12 quadrats at 100 m to 1000 m or site maximum). 3 cylindrical cores of sediment (10cm depth and diameter) were taken at each quadrat and fixed in 4 percent buffered formalin in seawater. The cores were then sieved on a 0.5mm mesh and the residue retained and preserved in 70 percent Industrial Methylated Spirit (IMS). Using a stereo microscope, all the animals were picked out of the residue, identified to species level (or appropriate taxon) and stored in vials containing 70 percent IMS. In cases where specimens had been damaged (any badly damaged specimens or parts of specimens where no head was present were separated into major group debris (annelid, mollusc and crustacea) pots. To obtain the biomass data, the individuals of each taxon (from one replicate) were blotted on tissue paper to remove any excess IMS. They were then weighed on a balance and the weight was recorded to 0.0001g. In situations where the animals were too light to register on the balance, a weight of 0.0001g was recorded. (The same method was used to obtain biomass values for major group debris.) The data were then multiplied by 127.323955 and rounded to 0.0001g to give results in metre squared.

Conformity

Conformity report

specification

title

Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2010-12-08

degree

explanation

Data format

name of format

Comma-separated values (CSV)

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

If you reuse this data, you should cite: Wood, C.L., Hawkins, S.J., Godbold, J.A., Solan, M. (2015). Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS) macrofaunal biomass in mudflat and saltmarsh habitats. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre https://doi.org/10.5285/0990858a-facc-47c5-bfbe-58fa30431db8

owner

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

organisation name

Environmental Information Data Centre

full postal address

Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg

Lancaster

LA1 4AP

email address

info@eidc.ac.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2022-05-20T10:40:12

Metadata language

eng