Haig Fras SAC Monitoring Report 2015 V3
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Haig Fras Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Monitoring Report 2015 MPA Monitoring Programme Contract Reference: MB0129 Report Number: 11 Version: 3 July 2019 Project Title: Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Monitoring Programme Report No. 11. Title: Haig Fras Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Monitoring Report 2015 Defra Project Code: MB0129 Defra Contract Manager: Carole Kelly Funded by: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Marine and Fisheries Seacole Block 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF Authorship Anna Downie Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) Joanna Bluemel Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) Mark Breckels Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) Fionnuala McBreen Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) Recommended Citation Downie, A., Bluemel, J., Breckels, M. and McBreen, F. (2019). Haig Fras Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Monitoring Report 2015. MPA Monitoring Programme Report No. 11. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Contact JNCC: Marine Monitoring Team ([email protected]) Acknowledgements We thank the Marine Protected Areas Survey Coordination and Evidence Group (MPAG) representatives for reviewing earlier drafts of this report, and Dr. Marcel Austenfeld for his advice and support in designing the macro for batch processing the laser measurements of images using ImageJ. 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 SNCB advice or assessments. Document Control Title: Haig Fras Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Monitoring Report 2015 Version Control Author Date Comment Version Downie et al. July 2018 Draft submitted to Tammy Noble-James (Cefas) and V0.1 Joey O’Connor (JNCC) . Downie et al. August Amended draft reviewed by Tammy Noble-James V1 2018 (Cefas) and proofread by Silke Kröger (Cefas and submitted to MPAG and external reviewer. Downie et al. February MPAG and external comments addressed. Approved V2 2019 by Elly Hill (JNCC) and proofread by Lynsey Gregory & Mark Etherton-Nicoll (Cefas). Submitted to MPAG for checking of amendments. Downie et al. July 2019 MPAG final comments addressed. Submitted to Defra V3 for sign-off and publication. Contents Contents ..................................................................................................................... 1 Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. 7 Glossary ..................................................................................................................... 9 Executive Summary .................................................................................................... 1 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 14 1.1 Site overview ............................................................................................... 14 1.2 Aims and objectives ..................................................................................... 16 1.2.1 High-level conservation objective .......................................................... 16 1.2.2 Favourable condition and feature attributes .......................................... 16 1.2.3 Report aims & objectives ...................................................................... 17 2 Methods ............................................................................................................. 18 2.1 Existing data used in the report ................................................................... 18 2.2 Survey design (CEND0915) ........................................................................ 18 2.3 Data acquisition and processing .................................................................. 19 2.3.1 Seabed imagery .................................................................................... 20 2.4 Data preparation and analysis ..................................................................... 20 2.4.1 Tidal model ........................................................................................... 20 2.4.2 Bathymetric derivatives ......................................................................... 21 2.4.3 Identifying topographic pinnacle locations ............................................ 21 2.4.4 Image quality assessment and data truncation ..................................... 22 2.4.5 Community and abundance data .......................................................... 23 2.4.6 Statistical analyses ............................................................................... 23 2.4.7 Evaluating potential indicators .............................................................. 25 3 Results ............................................................................................................... 26 3.1 Supporting processes .................................................................................. 26 3.2 Distribution & extent .................................................................................... 27 3.2.1 Physical reef structure ........................................................................ 298 3.2.2 Pinnacle locations ................................................................................. 20 3.2.3 Biotopes present ................................................................................... 21 3.2.4 Typical taxa and communities ............................................................... 24 Haig Fras SAC Monitoring Report 2015 1 3.2.5 Potential indicator taxa ......................................................................... 32 3.3 Other monitoring requirements .................................................................... 50 3.3.1 Marine litter ........................................................................................... 50 3.3.2 OSPAR Threatened and/or Declining Species and Habitats ................ 50 3.3.3 Non-indigenous species ....................................................................... 50 3.4 Post-hoc power analysis ............................................................................. 50 4 Discussion ......................................................................................................... 51 4.1 Extent and distribution of the Annex I Reef ................................................. 51 4.2 Structure and function of characteristic biological communities .................. 51 4.3 Analysis limitations ...................................................................................... 54 4.4 Anthropogenic impacts ................................................................................ 55 4.5 Other monitoring requirements .................................................................... 55 5 Recommendations and future monitoring .......................................................... 56 5.1 Operational recommendations .................................................................... 56 5.2 Analytical recommendations ....................................................................... 57 6 References ........................................................................................................ 59 Appendix 1. Selection of still images for quantitative analysis .................................. 62 Appendix 2. Epifauna data truncation protocol applied to seabed imagery data ...... 68 Appendix 3. Full taxon list from still images and video. ............................................ 75 Appendix 4. Seafloor litter monitoring. ...................................................................... 80 Appendix 5. Non-indigenous species (NIS). ............................................................. 81 Haig Fras SAC Monitoring Report 2015 2 Figures Figure 1. Distribution of UK Annex I Reef habitat with the location of the Haig Fras SAC. ......................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 2. Annex I Bedrock Reef exent at Haig Fras SAC as mapped by Barrio-Froján et al. (2015) with the distribution of underwater camera stations for the dedicated survey of reef fauna (CEND 0915, May 2015). ......................................................... 19 Figure 3. Modelled maximum tidal current speed at Haig Fras SAC overlaid on classified bathymetry. Areas shown in yellow are above the approximate wave base for the area (70 m). ................................................................................................... 26 Figure 4. EUNIS habitats at Haig Fras SAC as mapped by Barrio-Froján et al. (2015) with corresponding habitats observed in still images from the 2015 survey. ............ 28 Figure 5. Percentages of substrata observed in still images per transect from 2015 data acquired at the Haig Fras SAC. ........................................................................ 29 Figure 6. Potential pinnacle sites within the Haig Fras SAC, as identified by GIS analysis .................................................................................................................... 30 Figure 7. Example images