Your data – more on MPAs and INNS
Now you have carried out a Shoresearch survey in a at least one of the three main Marine Protected Areas, you might be wanting to know more about them.
Here we provide more information on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), as they cover much of the intertidal protected areas of Wales and are the main reason for our site choices for our group Shoresearch surveys.
We have also asked the only full time Officer in charge of management of a Special Area of Conservation in Wales to explain her work. COMING HERE SOON.
We also revisit INNS in this section as they are an increasing threat to marine species globally. It, therefore, goes without saying their impact on areas designed to protect habitats and species from further declines could be considerable and certainly needs to be part of the ongoing monitoring.
Site of Special Scientific Interest – these are known as the building blocks of conservation areas. Many of the “European sites” (SAC, SPA see Level 1) were chosen using sites where SSSIs existed already (they underpin them). They are designed to ensure conservation of important natural habitats and species are preserved. Sites are chosen to collect the best examples of these important habitats and also rare habitats and species. As the title says, sites within which there is a biological feature(s) which is special and is of scientific interest to protect.
To do the job of protection effectively, the ecosystem must function well and so all the component parts of a SSSI must also be healthy. When it comes to the SSSIs which include the intertidal area, this means the whole intertidal area must be in good condition. Our work to help monitor sites on a regular basis helps this aspect of the work, but it also helps to promote the sites locally, ensuring more people care about the wildlife and the process of protecting it.
Recent improvements to SSSIs has been to build better connections between protected sites across the UK. Connecting areas creates more cohesive and stable networks for wildlife. The Wildlife Trusts have been working towards this and you may have heard of our “Living Landscapes” and “Living Seas” work.
The ideal is that our MPAs change with changing times, both in terms of policies, but also the global change our Nature is experiencing due to Climate Change. The Wildlife Trusts throughout the UK will be spending the time to 2030 on the global goal of protecting and connecting 30% of land and sea by 2030. You, as a volunteer are part of that.
Guidelines exist as to how SSSI sites are chosen. It is important to note that the land on which SSSIs can be found, is often owned by private landowners and may not be what many think of as a protected site. Many are on reserves, however, but when it comes to those covering the intertidal area, these are few.
The criteria below, comes from the 1977 review of SSSI sites choice and has only changed in that the Primary and Secondary criteria are seen as equally valid now and more relevance is given to “ecological coherence” and “potential value”. Even with these criteria the decision remains complex.
The primary criteria:
typicalness
fragility
size
diversity
naturalness
rarity.
The secondary criteria:
recorded history
position in an ecological / geographical unit (ecological coherence)
potential value
intrinsic appeal.
Protection within marine protected areas means adopting policies, using regulation and promoting good practice, which is designed to keep species safe and avoid disturbance and deterioration of the habitat/population which is receiving protection, as well as strengthening the wider network within which they function.
For SSSIs the aim is to bring to and keep in favourable condition those sites chosen which cover rare and representative wildlife (habitats, species) at the national level.
Statutory bodies are required to contact Natural Resources Wales if they plan works on or near a SSSI, unless they have already acquired planning permission (so long as those granting it formally assessed the potential impact on the site), are confident that the work is not likely to affect the site and except for certain Emergency works, which are listed on NRW’s site:
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) requires a general duty for those with statutory responsibilities and public bodies “take reasonable steps, consistent with the proper exercise of the authority’s functions, to further the conservation and enhancement of the flora, fauna or geological or physiographical features by reason of which the site is of special scientific interest”
Also, under the Environment Act Wales (2016) they have an additional duty (which is not just limited to SSSIs) to “seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity in the exercise of functions in relation to Wales, and in so doing, promote the resilience of ecosystems, so far as consistent with the proper exercise of those functions”.
However, it’s important to note that even if the body advise against work, due to the potential impact on the site’s features, the work can still be carried out (with limitations). This also follows, to a similar degree, the advice to landowners.
Introducing Alison Palmer-Hargreave talking abut her work looking after a vast Marine Protected Area (a Special Area of Conservation – SAC) on the North West coast of North Wales. COMING SOON
More about Marine Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS)
Your data is important for many reasons. One such reason is to assess the presence of INNS. More eyes on shore is vital for this. However, many invasive species are not regularly seen, so developing your knowledge of the common species (mostly Native) will provide you with a knowledge base.
Much like advice on how to bird watch, getting your eye in to what is usually seen, helps prepare you to pinpoint something that’s different. We will be introducing you to more marine INNS to look out for and formerly search for in the species ID part of Lesson 2 of this training as well.
According to research in the journal Nature, over 1/3 of all introductions (terrestrial and marine) in the past 200 years happened after 1970.
The rate of invasion is not slowing, either. A study in 2020 predicts that the established alien species will increase by over 1/3rd between 2005 and 2050. Biological invasions are one of the top reasons for loss of biodiversity and species extinctions, globally.
In this section we go through some more information about INNS. Firstly, what makes a new comer ripe for invasion?
Secondly, how does Climate Change (another massive problem for our seas) help add to the problem INNS create?
Thirdly, what, on the wider scale, is happening to reduce INNS species making their way here – we introduce one example.
Ready to invade?
Austrominius-modestus – an invasive barnacle ©North Wales Wildlife Trust
A species likely to be good at coping well and potentially taking over an entirely new environment is one which has a few helpful features. They often have:
High reproductivity – to add quickly to their numbers
Good dispersal performance which will also ensure that, within their new environment, they find the most suitable spots to thrive initially,
Generalised diet to ensure they can survive with a new ecosystem
Some may be long-lived
Some of these features species called pioneers also have. Pioneer species are those which can cope in environments with very limited resources and are often replaced by phases of other species as the pioneers help to improve the environment for others. On land many wild flowers you see on brownfield sites are pioneer plants and those which appear after fires. Invasive species once in place don’t necessarily make way for the next phase of life and can seriously alter or devastate the new environments.
In addition to the species’ own features, the new environment may also mean this new species has no natural predators present or competitors or even parasites etc. Additionally, Humankind can also assist by helping with dispersal, perhaps having also reduced the receiving habitat to one which is not in its best state and of course helping with the introduction in the first place.
It’s important to note that many species are moving of their own accord expanding the areas they live in as conditions change, commonly nowadays due to Climate Change. These species are not completely out of their way (as with many invasive species, which have been moved to different ocean areas etc). However, living close to their natural range, may mean they can’t escape their natural predators/parasites/competitors even if they possess the INNS features to become invaders.
Climate change exacerbates the effects of invasion
Cricieth storm © NWWT
There are several reasons why Climate Change can help to make the actions of an INNS worse.
CC can reduce the resilience of habitats to invasive species. Many species are finding themselves out of synch with their prey items, are feeling heat stress, experiencing more disruption due to storms etc making space for any species able to take advantage (there are fewer of these – reducing biodiversity).
CC can also open up new routes for INNS such as via new Arctic shipping routes.
Changes in Climate can also provide an environment which suits the INNS species more than the environment before CC began to act. This is especially so for those previously or regularly moved by humans which until now have not become invasive (“sleepers”).
Protocols in place for species movement reduction in shipping
Holyhead-harbour and port © NWWT
Since it’s one of the major routes for marine INNS, and since shipping goods is only growing year after year, it is an onus on major ports to have protocols in place to help to reduce the impact of their activities in some way. As you can imagine, given the busyness as well as the fact that many marine species can hitch a ride in their planktonic stages and are therefore minute in size, this is often a difficult task.
The International Maritime Organisation aims to prevent the spread by implementing standards on certain aspects of shipping such as via the “International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments”. All ships are required to carry a ballast water record book and to have a ballast water management plan, most needing to install ballast water treatment systems.
In the UK
Statutory bodies in the UK are compiling lists of Horizon species (those likely to be the next to establish or have and are likely to move across an area) as well as prioritising of those species posing most risk to build appropriate biosecurity measures.
Individuals are being asked to Check-Clean-Dry equipment to avoid localised movements. Given the risks of Marine INNS this is all the very least that can be done.