Beachy Head West MCZ MPA Monitoring Programme V3
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Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) Characterisation Report 2015 MPA Monitoring Programme Contract Reference: MB0129 Report Number: 4 Version 3 July 2018 © Crown Copyright 2018 Project Title: Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Monitoring Programme Report No 4. Title: Beachy Head West MCZ Characterisation Report 2015 Defra Project Code: MB0129 Defra Contract Manager: Carole Kelly Funded by: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Marine Science and Evidence Unit Marine Directorate Nobel House 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR Authorship Louise Brown Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) [email protected] Matthew Curtis Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) [email protected] Jon Hawes Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) [email protected] Acknowledgements We thank the Marine Protected Areas Group (MPAG) representatives for reviewing earlier drafts of this report. Disclaimer: The content of this report does not necessarily reflect the views of Defra, nor is Defra liable for the accuracy of information provided, or responsible for any use of the reports content. Although the data provided in this report have been quality assured, the final products - e.g. habitat maps – may be subject to revision following any further data provision or once they have been used in Statutory Nature Conservation Body (SNCB) advice or assessments. Cefas Document Control Title: Beachy Head West MCZ Characterisation Report 2015 Submitted to: Marine Protected Areas Group (MPAG) Date submitted: August 2018 Portfolio Lead: Clare Leech Project Manager: Mark Etherton Principal Investigator: Sue Ware MPA Programme Science Lead: Joanna Murray, Tammy Nobel-James, Ross Bullimore Report compiled by: Louise Brown, Matthew Curtis, Jon Hawes Quality control by: Sue Ware, Tammy Noble-James, Silke Kröger, Ross Bullimore Approved by & date: Ross Bullimore 08/08/2018 Version: 3 Version Control History Author Date Comment Version Brown & Curtis March 2017 Draft submitted for MPAG and external review V1 Brown et al. October Revised draft following initial MPAG and external V2 2017 review. New format applied Brown et al. July 2018 Comments from final MPAG review addressed and V3 updated. Contents Contents ...................................................................................................................... i Tables ........................................................................................................................ iii Figures ....................................................................................................................... iv Executive Summary ................................................................................................... 1 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Site overview ................................................................................................. 3 1.2 Aims and objectives ...................................................................................... 7 1.2.1 High-level conservation objectives ......................................................... 7 1.2.2 Definition of favourable condition ............................................................ 7 1.2.3 Report aims and objectives .................................................................... 8 2 Methods ............................................................................................................. 10 2.1 Survey elements: feature attributes and supporting processes ................... 10 2.2 Data sources ............................................................................................... 10 2.3 Survey design ............................................................................................. 11 2.4 Data acquisition and processing ................................................................. 12 2.4.1 Acoustic data ........................................................................................ 12 2.4.2 Seabed imagery ................................................................................... 13 2.4.3 Seabed sediments ................................................................................ 13 2.5 Data preparation and analysis..................................................................... 13 2.5.1 Habitat map .......................................................................................... 13 2.5.2 Sediment particle size distribution ........................................................ 14 2.5.3 Biological community data preparation ................................................. 15 2.5.4 Statistical analyses ............................................................................... 15 2.5.5 Tidal modelling ..................................................................................... 16 2.5.6 Physico-chemical properties ................................................................. 16 3 Results and Interpretation .................................................................................. 17 3.1 Broadscale Habitat (BSH): extent and distribution ...................................... 17 3.2 Subtidal rock BSH: Physical structure and biological communities ............. 20 3.2.1 Moderate energy infralittoral rock ......................................................... 23 3.2.2 Moderate energy circalittoral rock ......................................................... 23 3.2.3 High energy circalittoral rock ................................................................ 25 Beachy Head West MCZ Characterisation Report 2015 i 3.3 Subtidal sedimentary BSH: Sediment composition and biological communities .......................................................................................................... 25 3.3.1 Subtidal coarse sediment ..................................................................... 28 3.3.2 Subtidal sand ........................................................................................ 30 3.3.3 Subtidal mixed sediments ..................................................................... 32 3.3.1 Subtidal mud ......................................................................................... 32 3.4 Habitat Features of Conservation Importance (FOCI) ................................. 32 3.4.1 Subtidal chalk ....................................................................................... 32 3.4.2 Other habitat FOCI ............................................................................... 35 3.5 Species Features of Conservation Importance (FOCI) ............................... 35 3.6 Non-indigenous species (NIS) ..................................................................... 35 3.7 Additional monitoring: supporting processes ............................................... 36 3.7.1 Hydrodynamics: tidal energy and exposure .......................................... 36 3.7.2 Water quality parameters ...................................................................... 38 3.7.3 Sediment quality parameters ................................................................ 38 3.7.4 Marine litter ........................................................................................... 38 4 Discussion ......................................................................................................... 39 4.1 Broadscale Habitat extent and distribution .................................................. 39 4.2 Subtidal rock BSH: Physical structure and biological communities ............. 39 4.3 Subtidal sedimentary BSH: Sediment composition and biological communities .......................................................................................................... 40 4.4 Habitat Features of Conservation Importance (FOCI) ................................. 40 4.5 Species Features of Conservation Importance (FOCI) ............................... 41 4.6 Non-indigenous species (NIS) ..................................................................... 41 4.7 Supporting processes ................................................................................. 41 4.8 Recommendations for future monitoring ..................................................... 42 5 References ........................................................................................................ 44 Annex 1. Methods for the production of the habitat map. ........................................ 46 Annex 3. Infauna data truncation protocol. .............................................................. 53 Annex 4. Seafloor litter monitoring. ......................................................................... 54 Annex 5. Non-indigenous species (NIS). ................................................................. 55 Beachy Head West MCZ Characterisation Report 2015 ii Tables Table 1. Beachy Head West MCZ site overview, including General Management Approach (GMA) for designated features. .................................................................. 6 Table 2. Survey elements and outputs aligned with the feature attributes and supporting processes identified at Beachy Head West MCZ. ................................... 10 Table 3. Number of samples collected in each BSH. .............................................. 17 Beachy Head West MCZ Characterisation Report 2015 iii Figures Figure 1. Location of the Beachy Head West MCZ in the context of Marine