Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

PHASE 1

HABITAT SURVEYS

INTRODUCTION

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.

1

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:

  • Natura 2000
  • Habitats Directive 92/42/EEC
  • UK BAP (2007)
  • WCA (1981)

INTRODUCTION

2

Method aims:

  • relatively rapid
  • cover large areas in one go
  • be replicated by other researchers easily.

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.

WHAT IS IT?

Overall habitat type.

Primarily, this means focusing on vegetation, with some topographic or substrate features.

Vegetation doesn't move

WHAT IS IT?

Uses

Uses

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.

Planning

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.

Drones vs Humans

Robot Supremacy

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?

Advantages

pinpointing areas of broadleaved woodland in conifer plantations (or vice-versa)

providing an overview of an area prior to survey

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

Drawbacks

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.

Limitations of Human Surveys

  • personal competency (i.e. qualifications, training, skills, understanding, experience)
  • inadequate resources (equipment and/or personnel)
  • use of old and out of date data
  • timing or seasonal constraints and suboptimal survey periods
  • site conditions and other factors, including:
  • adverse weather conditions
  • restricted access to a site or part of a site
  • unrealistic deadlines

THE PROCESS

3

To carry out a Phase 1 Habitat survey, there are five main areas of work:

  • Desk Study (preparing maps and materials pre-survey);
  • Field survey and target note production;
  • Map production;
  • Measurement and analysis of habitat areas;
  • Report production.

THE PROCESS

Desk Study

Desk Study

Before you rush out and survey, you need to prepare.

What elements do you need to consider?

  • 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

Collate Information

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.

Preparation

Remember to get:

  • Blank maps
  • Landowner permission
  • Personal kit and equipment (including whatever you need to protect you and your data from rain/wind)
  • Binoculars
  • Berol Verithin colouring pencils, if you’re making a coloured paper map
  • Phase 1 colour palette extension, if you’re making a GIS Map
  • Any ID guides you might need

Maps

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?

Final Steps

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.

Field Survey

Field Survey

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.

Recording Data

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.)

Possible Presence and Likely Importance

As well as habitats:

  • Possible Presence of protected species, including plants, fungi, terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, breeding birds, bats, and priority mammals (e.g. bats, dormice, GCN, etc)

  • Likely Importance of habitat features present to protected species

Also, any INNS - can heavily impact distribution of protected species

NOTE: DO NOT SURVEY PROTECTED SPP THEMSELVES

Exercise: White Rock

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:

  • A111 = broadleaved semi-natural woodland
  • A122 = coniferous plantation
  • A131 = mixed semi-natural woodland
  • B21 = neutral unimproved grassland
  • D6 = wet heath/acid grassland mosaic
  • F22 = Inundation
  • G22 = mesotrophic running water

A131

G22

B21

F22

B21

B21

D6

F22

G22

A131

D6

A122

Map

Map

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.

A. Woodland and Scrub

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

  • Not much left of it in the UK
  • Includes Ancient Woodland
  • Human interference >120 years
  • Can contain Coppice

Plantation Woodland

  • Spacing between trees in tight clusters
  • Mono culture of native or non native trees
  • Can be any age, and are easily identifiable by the uniform spacing of the trees.
  • These include Ornamental gardens, commercial timber plantations, Orchards and can be a mono culture or mixed woodland

B. Grassland and Marsh

Herbaceous vegetation dominated by grasses. "Improvement" = agricultural amendment by repeated grazing, mowing, fertilising, drainage or herbicide treatment.

Three main types:

Unimproved

  • Rare (esp. in lowlands)
  • High species diversity, few agri spp
  • Often rank (ungrazed)

Semi-improved

  • Some modification by agricultural processes
  • Transitioning

Improved

  • Heavy grazing
  • Herbicide use
  • Low biodiversity

C. Tall Herb and Fern

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].

D. Heathland

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

E. Mire

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.

Analysis

Analysis

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?

Don't Include...

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.

Report

Report Production

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:

  • Introduction. A brief description of the survey area, and why it’s important/why a survey is needed (with a particular focus on habitats/species)

  • Methodology. Outline of the Phase 1 methodology followed, plus any variations you were forced to do (maybe weather/access issues interfered, one surveyor couldn’t tell what trees were, etc)

  • Results. The completed Master Map.

Report Production

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.

4

TARGET NOTES

TARGET NOTES

What to Write

What to Write

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:

  • Habitat type or types present together with their dominant plant species;
  • Other species of note;
  • Need for further survey if relevant.

If possible or appropriate, you could also include:

  • a description of the habitat structure, topography and substrate;
  • a description of the plant communities present;
  • details of any noteworthy animal associations;
  • a note of any known rare species of plant or animal;
  • notes on past, present or proposed management practices;
  • details of ownership (if found in passing);
  • details of any form of site protection;
  • notes on any changes, particularly if damaging, that have occurred recently, or are taking place, or are threatened;
  • reference to, or results of, any previous surveys

How to Write

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’).

Exercise

Exercise

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.

COLOUR PALETTES

There are official colour palettes you need to use.

Paper maps: Berol Verithin standard range.

5

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

COLOUR PALETTES

Alphanumeric Codes

Alphanumeric Codes

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

6

LLYS NINI

Llys Nini

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.

Exercise: Plan Your Survey

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:

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi