Habitat point records from 1974 ITE Shetland sublittoral survey

Sublittoral Biota - Part 6.4: Part 6 is a descriptive report of the work undertaken using diving transects at OS grid intercepts of the coast. The work is more clearly described in Earll, 1982. These reports present a summary and bibliography of the marine biological information on Shetland presently available, commencing with work which began in the 19th century. Survey methods are then described and full site descriptions provided. The selection of sublittoral survey sites and methods of data analysis are explained. (Indicator Species Analysis was used to provide a classification and ordination of sites). The sublittoral habitats are divided into 4 main types, these being further subdivided in relation to various environmental factors. Infralittoral rock includes exposed, moderately exposed and sheltered sites, shaded cliffs, crevice and under-boulder faunas and kelp forest. Circalittoral rock communities are covered and a number of sediment habitats with characteristic infralittoral and circalittoral communities and the communities of coarse sands and gravels and of muddy shell gravels are also described. Finally the Modiolus communities are noted. The 3 sea urchin populations associated with rocky substrata in Shetland are examined, and a study on the marine fauna of Laminaria holdfasts described. There is a species list based on part of the information available; the part covering Porifera and Cnidaria is given. In the discussion, an evaluation of the methods adopted by the survey is put forward to explore their potential. The advantages of the random stratified sampling approach to site selection and the Indicator Species Analysis of data are presented and the drawbacks of the approach taken examined. The conclusion is that the basic science behind both the sampling strategy and the computor based methods was sound and the job specification of the ITE survey was fulfilled. It is recommended that the data collected should be catalogued and stored safely for future survey use and that more use should be made of large scale coastal analysis for site selection in sampling programmes and for facilitating comparisons between coastal regions. The drawbacks of the use of subjective judgements in field site selection and estimation of site conservation values is noted and the need to document such information. Sites of marine conservation interest in Shetland are reviewed for the sublittoral environment. The geographical position of Shetland, where northern and southern species both reach their limits of distribution, is considered to be of importance. The effects of glaciation, presence of deep water close inshore and extreme range of coastal environments (and wave exposure) also contribute to the interest of the area. The report concludes that few coastal regions in the British Isles combine such a high density of potentially conservable natural environment which is, as yet, reasonably unspoilt by human activities and blessed with such a wide range of interesting features. Coastal Habitats - Physical Characteristics - Part 6.1: A set of non-selective regular sampling points on the coast of Shetland were investigated and this report gives a method to generalise from these to other points of interest using clearly repeatable criteria. The aim of this exercise was to `provide a classification of the Shetland coast using these criteria to provide a sampling and intellectual framework for describing the coastal biology of Shetland and as a basis for monitoring the effects of oil development`. Every intercept of the 1 km OS grid was used as a sample point. One hundred and six attributes in 17 different categories were used to determine the coastal type at 1723 sample points. Analysis of results was undertaken by Recipricol Averaging and Indicator Species Analysis. Eight coastal types were determined, described and mapped. There is a key to the 8 coastal types. Reaches were chosen to obtain a representative sample of the various conditions on mainland and tended towards areas where a diverse fauna might be expected. Work was undertaken by staff from the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. Records currently considered sensitive have been removed from this dataset.

Organization: Joint Nature Conservation Committee