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East Anglia Offshore Windfarm: Zonal Environmental Assessment Benthic Report
C.3.1 The Distribution of Species of Interest
The following Figures (Figures 21-27) represent the distribution of speci es of interest from all data acquired during the survey of the EAOW zone, i ncluding both the original sampling grid and the targeted stations. The taxa i ncluded in Figures 21-27 have been selected as a result of
the key
contributions that they made to the character of the zone, or becaus e of a parti cular conservation interest.
Figure 21 illustrates the distribution of Sabellaria spinulosa across the ar ea of interest. Sabellaria spinulosa is a tubiculous polychaete which is capable of constructing biogenic reefs; a habitat protected under the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations (1994). Sabellaria spinulosa was found to be the most abundant organism across the EAOW zone.
Figure 21 demonstrates that the abundance of this organism was not uniforml y distributed across the EAOW zone. Very high Sabellaria abundance was recorded at a number of s tations, particularly within Area B, with the hi ghest abundances recorded across the westward protuberance of Area B and towards the north of this zone.
It should be noted that the high Sabellaria spinulosa abundance is mostly accounted for by the targeted sampling, thus corroborating the acoustic data analysis based on seabed rugosity.
The distribution and cl assification of Sabellaria spinulosa is covered in detail in Section E.