Marine Offshore Seabed Survey data held by JNCC

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Description

Dataset containing information about offshore benthic species and habitats, and their location within the UK's marine area. Data have been collected by, or for, JNCC in order to improve evidence holdings. This helps to facilitate the provision of accurate advice to the UK government on the conservation of these species and habitats.

Geographic Description

Surveys focus on gathering data from the UK's benthic habitats, on existing MPAs, sites being assessed for there potential as MPAs and fisheries management areas. All sites are within the UK marine area, however some surveys have additionally collected samples from beyond the limit of the UK continental shelf. Due to the nature of the surveys, datasets tend to cluster on particular areas of interest.

Purpose

Data collected in order to improve JNCC's data holdings for areas of the seabed being assessed as potential Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and also surveys conducted for monitoring and managing MPAs and the wider marine environment.

Data quality

Taxonomic identification is undertaken by experts and the Marine Species of the British Isles and Adjacent Seas (MSBIAS) species dictionary is used to validate species names. The database is maintained and updated as new survey data become available. All records have been validated using the NBN record cleaner.

Methods

Data collected from a variety of reaserch vessels using a range of survey equipment including grabs, underwater video and still images, and benthic trawls. Post survey analysis has been conducted by various contractors to identify species and their abundances. Abundace is recorded as count, SACFORN, or presence/absence.

Citation

Joint Nature Conservation Committee ([Insert download year]). Marine Offshore Seabed Survey data held by JNCC. Occurrence dataset on the NBN Atlas

Rights

OGL

Digitised records