Mapping of the Haig Fras Site of Community Importance (SCI)

Barrio Froján, Christopher, Diesing, Markus and Curtis, M. (2015) Mapping of the Haig Fras Site of Community Importance (SCI) (JNCC/Cefas Partnership Report Series, 4) Joint Nature Conservation Committee 44pp.

Abstract

This report describes the results from multidisciplinary field surveys of the Haig Fras reefcomplex, presently designated as a Site of Community Importance (SCI) and a candidateSpecial Area of Conservation (cSAC). Since the designation of Haig Fras as an SCI, newevidence has come to light suggesting that the Annex I reef habitat, for which the site wasselected, extends outside the existing site boundary, prompting the present investigation tomap the full extent of reef habitat at Haig Fras. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries andAquaculture Science (Cefas) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) jointlysurveyed the Haig Fras complex, collecting remotely sensed multibeam data and directlyobserved ground-truthing data. These datasets have been analysed to determine the fullextent of the Annex I reef and produce an updated habitat map of the area.The total area of Annex I reef identified is approximately 176km2; 26km2 (15%) of which sitsoutside of the current SCI boundary. The predominant biotope observed on the rocky reefwas A4.212: Caryophyllia smithii, sponges and crustose communities on wave-exposedcircalittoral rock.Sedimentary habitats present between the rocky reef outcrops have been characterised,mapped and assigned mostly to the biotope A5.15: Deep circalittoral coarse sediment.Although patches of boulders and cobbles were observed in the area, the acquired evidencedid not meet published criteria for the identification and assignation of stony reef. Smallpatches of circalittoral rock surrounded by sediment were detected on the acoustic datarecord, however, there was no direct observation of these patches from ground-truthingsamples.Updated maps depicting the distribution of identified EUNIS habitat types and Annex I reefare presented.

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Contributors

Author: Christopher Barrio Froján

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