Marine Biodiversity and Aggregate Dredging in Both Two and Three Dimensional Context (Volume 1)
- Reference:
- 05/J/1/03/0843/0000
- Start Date:
- 18 May 2012
- Amount Funded:
- This project was commissioned by Natural England via the ALSF
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- Organisation:
- EMU Ltd
- End Date:
- 22 November 2010
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The principal objectives of this study have been to:
- sample substrata from three discrete areas within the English
Channel where gravel based sediments are known to exist
- place these sites within a wider context by sampling using a
wide spatial array between these discrete areas.
- analyse the data to determining if any relationships exist
between benthic communities and the depth of the particulate
substrata.
The latter point also addressed the issue of sensitivity and
uniqueness of biotopes associated with coarse palaeochannel
infills, compared to adjacent sediment veneers. The findings of the
project are intended for dissemination to the marine aggregate
stakeholders and wider communities and are anticipated to provide
guidance to Natural England and the Marine Management Organisation
(MMO) and inform regulatory decision making processes regarding the
appropriate selection of aggregate extraction sites. The data
appendices accompanying this report (e.g. charts and faunal data)
are available on request to the project contractor as
Volume 2.