Characterisation of the South West European Marine Sites: Summary Report. Occasional Publication of the Marine Biological Association 14

The UK and EU have recently committed to an ecosystem-based approach to the management of our marine environment. In line with the requirements of the Habitats regulations, all consents likely to significantly affect Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are to be reviewed. As part of this process, 'site characterisation' is seen as an important first step towards the improved management of designated sites. This characterisation series, undertaken by the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom and funded by the Environment Agency and English Nature, sets out to determine the current status of designated marine sites in South West England, and how vulnerable (or robust) they are to contaminants (metals, organics, nutrients) and other anthropogenic pressures. Using published information and unpublished data-sets from regulatory agencies, conservation bodies and research institutes (particularly those of the PMPS*), evidence is compiled on the links between potentially harmful 'activities', environmental quality, and resultant biological consequences. This includes an evaluation of long-term change. The focus is the effect of water and sediment quality on the key interest features of European Marine sites in the South West of England, namely: - Fal and Helford cSAC (MBA Occasional Publication 8) - Plymouth Sound and Estuaries cSAC/ SPA (MBA Occasional Publication 9) - Exe Estuary SPA (MBA Occasional Publication 10) - Chesil and the Fleet cSAC/ SPA (MBA Occasional Publication 11) - Poole Harbour SPA (MBA Occasional Publication 12) - Severn Estuary pSAC/SPA (MBA Occasional Publication 13) Detailed analysis for each of these sites is provided individually. The summary report contains an overview of physical properties, uses and vulnerability for each of these sites, together with brief comparisons of pollution sources, chemical exposure (via sediment and water) and evidence of biological impact (from bioaccumulation to community-level response). Limitations of the data, and gaps in our understanding of these systems are highlighted and suggestions are put forward as to where future research and surveillance is most needed. Hopefully this may assist the statutory authorities in targeting future monitoring and remedial activities. * PMSP: Plymouth Marine Sciences Partnership, comprising the Marine Biological Association (MBA), University of Plymouth (UoP), the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, and Plymouth Marine Laboratories (PML)

Family-level AMBI is valid for use in the north-eastern Atlantic but not for assessing the health of microtidal Australian estuaries

Analysis of benthic macroinvertebrate samples at a higher taxonomic level than species, e.g. family, potentially provides a more cost-effective protocol for environmental impact assessments and monitoring as it requires less time, funds and taxonomic expertise. Using the AMBI database, species ecological group scores are shown to be coherent within families. Faunal data from a wide range of environmental impact scenarios in the north-eastern Atlantic demonstrate that AMBI, calculated from mean values for families, exhibits a strong linear relationship with species-level AMBI, the correlation improving by using square-root transformed rather than untransformed abundances. In many regions of the world, however, the sensitivity of benthic macroinvertebrates to environmental perturbations is unknown, precluding the use of AMBI for environmental assessments. Yet the families are essentially the same as in the AMBI database. The utility of family-level AMBI is tested using data for four south-western Australian estuaries previously subjected to environmental quality assessments, but where only 17 species of the 144 taxa are included in the AMBI database. Although family-level AMBI scores reflect differences in environmental quality spatially and temporally within an estuary, they do not follow variations in environmental quality among estuaries. Indeed, south-western Australia estuaries are numerically dominated by families with high AMBI scores, probably due to the detrimental effects of natural accumulations of organic material in estuaries with long residence times. As taxonomic distinctness follows trends in environmental quality among estuaries, as well as temporally and spatially within a system, it provides an appropriate substitute for assessing the 'heath' of microtidal estuaries.

Sediment contaminant surveillance in Milford Haven Waterway

Sediment contaminants were monitored in Milford Haven Waterway (MHW) since 1978 (hydrocarbons) and 1982 (metals), with the aim of providing surveillance of environmental quality in one of the UK’s busiest oil and gas ports. This aim is particularly important during and after large-scale investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. However, methods inevitably have changed over the years, compounding the difficulties of coordinating sampling and analytical programmes. After a review by the MHW Environmental Surveillance Group (MHWESG), sediment hydrocarbon chemistry was investigated in detail in 2010. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) contributed their MHW data for 2007 and 2012, collected to assess the condition of the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) designated under the European Union Habitats Directive. Datasets during 2007-2012 have thus been more comparable. The results showed conclusively that a MHW-wide peak in concentrations of sediment polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals and other contaminants occurred in late 2007. This was corroborated by independent annual monitoring at one centrally-located station with peaks in early 2008 and 2011. The spatial and temporal patterns of recovery from the 2007 peak, shown by MHW-wide surveys in 2010 and 2012, indicate several probable causes of contaminant trends, as follows: atmospheric deposition, catchment runoff, sediment resuspension from dredging, and construction of two LNG terminals and a power station. Adverse biological effects predictable in 2007 using international sediment quality guidelines, were independently tested by data from monitoring schemes of more than a decade duration in MHW (starfish, limpets), and in the wider SAC (grey seals). Although not proving cause and effect, many of these potential biological receptors showed a simultaneous negative response to the elevated 2007 contamination following intense dredging activity in 2006. Wetland bird counts were typically at a peak in the winter of 2005-2006 previous to peak dredging. In the following winter 2006-2007, shelduck in Pembroke River showed their lowest winter count, and spring 2007 was the largest ever drop in numbers of broods across MHW between successive breeding seasons. Wigeon counts in Pembroke River were again low in late 2012 after further dredging nearby. These results are strongly supported by PAH data reported previously from invertebrate bioaccumulation studies in MHW 2007-2010, themselves closely reflecting sediment