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Standardisation allows repetition and comparability.
Why is standardisation a big part of the scientific method?
When trying to determine habitat management, you need to know what kinds of habitat you have, where they are, and whether they’re in decline, growing or stable. This info can then be used when trying to conserve various species.
To get this info, we survey – so, how do we standardise the survey?
In UK, we use the Phase 1 Habitat System.
Developed in the 1970s as a form of Rapid Assessment Survey.
Formalised and refined after the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) came into being - now the UK industry standard.
Phase 1 maps underpin everything that comes next, be that management plan, specific species surveys, archaeological surveys, etc.
Legislation:
Method aims:
So: how do you think you do it? What do you record?
This is NOT A DETAILED SURVEY TECHNIQUE, hence Phase 1.
To go more in depth we use extra phases:
Phase 2: involves specific species surveys
Phase 3: records detailed data on species richness, abundance, reproductive capacity, etc.
These are much rarer, as they require more highly-trained personnel such as ecologists.
Overall habitat type.
Primarily, this means focusing on vegetation, with some topographic or substrate features.
Vegetation doesn't move
Data gathered from Phase 1 surveys are highly, highly useful in multiple fields.
On individual sites, it allows a baseline for ongoing monitoring, and informs management strategy; at a regional or national level, it allows you to see when sites that can be seemingly small and unimportant are actually forming important parts of “wildlife corridors”, and therefore need protecting.
It’s also very useful to planning departments, as they can then evidence their decisions to deny development.
If you go into land management, this is one of the first things you do with your site.
But, of course, drones and satellite images these days can give a top-down view of an area - including habitat types.
What do you think are the advantages of drones over humans?
What do you think are the disadvantages?
picking out undeveloped sites in urban areas
mapping inaccessible habitats that can then be directly compared with similar neighbours
picking out areas of high arable intensity
determining the boundaries between adjacent habitats that aren't differentiated on Ordnance Survey maps (e.g. a boundary between blanket bog and acid grassland in the uplands)
determining the boundaries of well defined habitat units which are not apparent from the Ordnance Survey map (for example, woodlands vs plantations)
checking the alignments of recent road-building developments
Despite technological advancement, still not quite capable of distinguishing between the various habitat types defined by Phase 1
Cost is currently £12,000 per drone (you need good ones)
Qualified botanist still needs to analyse data at some point
Remote sensing has been used to some level of success (e.g. lidar), but even with the newest sensors they can only define 5m squares - not detailed enough for a survey
Both lack the level of detail and perspective that boots on the ground have, and that is wildlife observations, tracks, badger sets and so on.
To carry out a Phase 1 Habitat survey, there are five main areas of work:
Before you rush out and survey, you need to prepare.
What elements do you need to consider?
Secure land access, and risk assessment e.g. livestock, dogs. Stakeholders are identified.
Site designations (such as SINCs, SACs and SSSIs) are identified. This includes both on site and the "zone of influence". Example: on the A465 they were required to assess all land 500m on either side of the proposed scheme.
Species distributions which may impact the project (e.g. GCN) need to be assessed. Data available from local Biodiversity Record Centres, e.g. SEWBreC and WWBiC.
Remember to get:
You need blank maps of the survey area - these are what you draw the habitat compartments onto. Preferably at 1:10,000 scale but no larger than 1:50,000; smaller is fine for a smaller site.
Ideal: black and white maps that show boundaries and other features clearly, but not existing habitat types.
With that said, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the visible habitats and contour lines on the above?
Remember to brush up your ID skills for the important vegetation types before you go – this will make the fieldwork phase much easier.
Important – PLAN YOUR ROUTE. This will save a lot of time later on.
Stick to footpaths and other rights of way if possible – you should only have to resort to landowner permission if there’s no right of way, and ideally, if you can’t see from a RoW path with binoculars. Plan the most efficient route with the least back-tracking.
Stay in pairs when you survey – cover separate parts of the field/compartment, but stay in loose contact.
Periodically, overlap areas with another team.
Why?
You can cover more ground, but it’s better for safety, morale and accuracy.
Comparing overlapped sections lets you callibrate, and ensure the team is reading things the same.
You can either draw the habitats you identify with the coloured pencils, or the accepted symbols, or the habitat type using one of the habitat codes.
The colours are a great idea if you have a complex habitat with lots of overlapping semi-natural habitat types, but more likely to run in rain.
Everyone in the group should agree, and use the same.
As well as colouring/marking areas, make target notes (more on that in a bit.)
As well as habitats:
Also, any INNS - can heavily impact distribution of protected species
NOTE: DO NOT SURVEY PROTECTED SPP THEMSELVES
A122
D6
The photo is of White Rock Heritage Park in Hafod, Swansea.
How would you record what you see here on the map?
Likely habitats:
A131
G22
B21
F22
B21
B21
D6
F22
G22
A131
D6
A122
This is where you all combine the data that you’ve gathered into a single map, known as the Master Map. This should be an accurate, full-colour habitat map that’s easy to visually interpret.
There are precise colours or symbols you need to use for each
There are 155 in total, so I will not list them all here. Be suitably grateful. But, here are the common ones.
Woodland: any vegetation that is dominated by trees over 5m high which form a distinct canopy, although sometimes it may be an open canopy.
Semi Natural
Plantation Woodland
Herbaceous vegetation dominated by grasses. "Improvement" = agricultural amendment by repeated grazing, mowing, fertilising, drainage or herbicide treatment.
Three main types:
Unimproved
Semi-improved
Improved
Tall herb and fern, occurring in the understory of some woodlands and across upland areas deemed to have little economic value aside from grazing.
Usually dominated by Pteridium aquilinum [Bracken].
Heathland includes vegetation dominated by gorse and furze species, as well as heath dominated by lichens and bryophytes, on well drained soils.
More common in upland areas, but can occur in lowlands too
Characterised by a high water table and rich in sphagnum moss species
Essentially, unmodified bog (bog is a separate category). It's typically found on peat over 0.5m deep with the water table on or just below the surface with no input of water from the surrounding land.
Modified bog contains little to no sphagnum moss.
So, you have your map! Congrats. Now what?
Always calculate the area of each habitat type, and of all semi-natural habitats.
If you’re doing a map digitally using GIS, it can calculate the area for you pretty accurately. If you’ve created a paper map, you can express the area of each as a percentage of the overall survey area, and measurements are done with a Romer dot grid.
Using GIS, even a simple version like Google My Maps, is both faster and more likely to be accurate.
Question: why do you do this? How is it useful to calculate habitat areas?
DO NOT try to account for slope variation.
Don’t bother trying to estimate area for hedges, grass verges, embankments, etc – just use their length as their measurement. Only do area if they’re over 25m wide. Include the area of these boundaries in the area of the habitat they’re lining.
Ditches/streams/rivers that are 25m wide or less are also a linear measurement – over 25m and they are classed as running water.
Now that you have your data, you write it up! (Which I highly recommend you do for your Fieldwork Notebooks btw)
Set it out as you would a standard academic report:
Analysis. This is where you put your measurements of the various habitat areas; then talk about how important it is to monitor such areas using this map as a baseline, because species blah blah. Include information from your target notes. If you want, you can add some management recommendations, but these should be vague (“Try to limit the spread of willow scrub onto areas of marshy grassland”) rather than precise instructions (“Remove all willow scrub; fell selected mature willows to create open air gaps, with stumps left at 1 – 1.5m to allow willow tits to feed. Use conservation grazing to maintain sward height and keep willow at bay.”)
Conclusion. Sum up what you’ve already said.
These are the sort of supplementary notes that you write about each habitat when you record it.
“Semi-natural broadleaved woodland” is the habitat type that will make it onto the map, but 'ancient coppiced sessile oak/birch woodland with hazel understorey and acid ground flora’ tells subsequent management a lot about what’s on site, suitable management strategies, and of course, prepares the way for a more detailed Phase 2 survey.
Ideally, include a target note for every habitat unit, but in reality the small, uninteresting ones get ignored for survey speed (a car park is rarely going to tell you much.)
Always include:
If possible or appropriate, you could also include:
To write a target note, place a little red target symbol on the map at the right point. Work out the grid reference of the symbol.
Begin the target note with the grid reference, along with the date of survey (month and year) and the initials of the surveyors. You can number each symbol and note if you want, but the grid reference should make it pointless. That said, it does make reading the map easier, and so is becoming more frequent.
Vernacular names may be used in the habitat descriptions (for example 'ash-hazel woodland with holly’), provided ambiguity is avoided (for example specify 'sessile oak', or 'oak (Q. petraea)' rather than just 'oak’).
Create a target note for the below habitat compartment. The images provided are all from the same compartment.
Remember to include at least: habitat type or types present together with their dominant plant species; other species of note; need for further survey if relevant.
There are official colour palettes you need to use.
Paper maps: Berol Verithin standard range.
For GIS, you can download the appropriate colour palette:
https://www.fscbiodiversity.uk/qgis-mapping-styles-uk-habitats
There is also one provided on Moodle
For monochrome maps, there's also the option of using codes - also useful if it's raining heavily on survey day
The official codes are in the JNCC Phase 1 handbook
A site in Penllergaer - 78 acres of mixed woodland, grassland and wetland
It contains public footpaths, but some areas are inaccessible
It is Very Wet throughout.
Key objective: collate as much information on the site as possible before the fieldwork. This gives you an indication of what habitat and species that likely to be present on site, and gives you a wider context on where your site sits within the landscape.
Prepare equipment
Plan work (logistics; route taken, etc)
We will be visiting in a group, and spending most of the day there (11am - 4.30pm). In this time, we need to cover 78 acres.
Plan how you intend to do this!
This is the desk study part of the proceedings, so attempt the following: