Scottish Natural Heritage Kentra Bay and Moss SSSI Site Condition Monitoring
The principle purpose of this project is to carry out site condition monitoring (SCM) of the intertidal sediment flats of Kentra Bay and Moss SSSI site. SCM was inaugurated at this SSSI site in 2003, providing a baseline for future SCM surveys. The study approach taken aims to enable re-surveying of 16 relocatable stations along 5 transects that are representative of the biological and environmental diversity of the sediment flats in the SSSI in order to 1) establish a baseline biological dataset to facilitate future assessment; 2) identify any deterioration in the condition of the mudflat feature; and 3) to form a judgement on its current condition.
series
GB-SCT-SNH-CMEU-SCM-KBM
eng
urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326
biota
imageryBaseMapsEarthCover
biota
revision
2008-01-06
revision
2009-11-16
creation
2011-02-16
creation
2011-07-06
creation
2006-08-31
creation
2017-05-12
-5.8853
-5.8327
56.7661
56.7368
creation
2009-06-18
Minches & Western Scotland
creation
2009-05-01
42E4
creation
1954-01-01
Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland
creation
2014-05-16
VIa
revision
2010-01-01
littoral
2003-08-28
2018-03-13
publication
2004-03-03
notPlanned
Sampling for the SCM surveys take place at a series of relocatable stations along 5 transects that are chosen to reflect the biological and environmental diversity of the sediment flats in the SSSI. The transects (KA to KE), which include a total of 16 sample stations, are laid out perpendicular to the shore and to low water channels at the seaward end. Each station lies within a perceived habitat zone identified from the physical appearance and biological surface features. The positions of both stations and zone boundaries are recorded. At each station 8 cores of 10.3 cm diameter and 15 cm depth are taken for analysis of macrofauna, along with a single core of 3.4cm diameter and 20 cm depth for particle size anlaysis. The macrofaunal cores from each station are pooled and sieved through a 1 mm sieve. At one station along each transect an additional 3 replicate sets of 8 pooled cores are taken and treated as above. A record of any surfical biota is made by photographing five replicate randomly placed 0.25 m2 quadrats and noting incidental visual records. In addition, approximately 1 m2 of sediment is dug-over using a spade, to a depth of about 30 cm to check for the presence of any infauna which might not have been effectively sampled by the cores and estimates of their density made using the SACFOR scale. All transects and stations have their positions fixed by hand-held differential GPS using WGS84 datum.
publication
2011-02-02
true
See the referenced specification
publication
2018-01-23
true
See the referenced specification
Not for navigational use; SNH copyright data which is available for re-use under government licence terms: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
no restrictions to public access
Data Manager
Scottish Natural Heritage, Inverness
originator
Data Manager
Scottish Natural Heritage, Inverness
custodian
Data Manager
Scottish Natural Heritage, Inverness
pointOfContact
2018-11-21