Sensitive species and biotopes - MarLIN research

Managing Water Quality on the South-West European Marine Sites29-30 September 2003

Keith Hiscock

‘Sensitivity’

“A very sensitive habitat or species is one that is very easily adversely affected by external factors arising from human activities and is expected to recover over a very long period or not at all. A sensitive habitat or species is one that is easily affected by a human activity, and is expected to only recover over a long period.”

Review of Marine Nature Conservation (Laffoley et al. 2000)

Intolerance + Recoverability = Sensitivity

Sensitivity assessments from www.marlin.ac.uk - species

Sensitivity assessments from www.marlin.ac.uk - biotopes

Sensitivity matrixSensitivity is identified from the intolerance of a species or habitat to damage from an external factor and the time taken for its subsequent recovery.

The ‘power’ behind the Web site

Sensitivity mapping (matching survey data to MarLIN sensitivity assessments, using GIS)

Sensitivity of seabed biotopes to physical disturbance. (This map is part of development and not definitive.)

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