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Developing a method for broadscale and feature-level sensitivity assessments: the MarESA aggregation 2020

Abstract

Sensitivity assessments following the Marine Evidence-based Sensitivity Assessment (MarESA) methodology have been undertaken for a range of biotopes. These assessments, which are available on the Marine Life Information Network (MarLIN) website, are updated by the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (MBA), using best-available evidence and peer review. Although MarESA provides sensitivity information at a detailed biotope level, for certain applications, an understanding of sensitivity is also required at a broad-scale habitat (Level 3 of the habitat classifications) and Marine Protected Area (MPA) feature-level. Sensitivity assessments for broad-scale habitats and MPA features are needed for a range of applications, including in the provision of Advice on Operations for MPA Conservation Advice, advice on marine industry casework, in offshore survey planning and in the development of marine biodiversity indicators.

Natural England developed a novel method to utilise the up-to-date MarESA assessments within their Designated Sites system to present MPA feature-level information for their Advice on Operations for English inshore MPAs. The following report sets out JNCC’s MarESA aggregation project, which builds upon Natural England’s work to improve the understanding of broad-scale habitat and MPA feature sensitivity for UK offshore waters. The work utilises the MarESA sensitivity assessments as well as the outputs from a previous project, which assigned biotopes to each of the UK’s Offshore Regional Seas.

Three spreadsheet outputs are provided alongside this report. These contain the aggregated sensitivity, resistance and resilience outputs for broad-scale habitats. A list of which bioregion each offshore MPA occurs in is provided within these spreadsheets in the tab entitled ‘MPAs&RegionalSeas’. A Readme tab is also included with instructions on how to use each spreadsheet. These spreadsheets are updated and replaced when new input data become available. The date of the most recent update is provided in the file name.

Please note, a revised version of this report was published in March 2021, to address a broken link.

Resource type Publication

Topic category Oceans

Reference date 2020·07·07

Citation
Last, E.K., Matear, L. & Robson, L.M. 2020. Developing a method for broadscale and feature-level sensitivity assessments: the MarESA aggregation. JNCC Report No. 662, JNCC, Peterborough, ISSN 0963-8091.

Lineage
This report sets out JNCC’s MarESA aggregation project, which builds upon Natural England’s work to improve the understanding of broad-scale habitat and MPA feature sensitivity for UK offshore waters.

Responsible organisation
Communications, JNCC publisher

Limitations on public access No limitations

Use constraints Available under the Open Government Licence 3.0

Metadata date 2024·05·02

Metadata point of contact
Communications, JNCC

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