East Anglia Offshore Windfarm: Zonal Environmental Assessment Benthic Report
E.2.3 Other Annex I Habitats
Evidence acquired from the underwater video and stills imagery gathered as p art of the benthic characterisation survey conducted across the EAOW Zone indicate that mussel beds, geogenic reefs and submarine structures caused by leaking gases are not present across the area of interest.
E.3 Biodiversity Action Plan Habitats
The UK Bi odiversity Action Plan (UKBAP) provides a li st species and habi tats of conservation priority14. The UKBAP list contains over 1,000 species and 65 habitats earmarked as being national priorities for protection within the UK. A total of 85 of these species and 25 habitats within the BAP are classified as marine.
A number of habitats identified under the UK BAP are present i n the vicinity of the ZEA area15. These include the following:
Mud habitats in deep water Sabellaria spinulosa reefs
Subtidal sands and gravels
Several other pri ority habitats occur outsi de the zonal survey area, most notabl y those associated with coastal features. The habitats may be of importance when considering the EAOW cable route.
Further, a syllid polychaete belonging to the Genus Streptosyllis, which is believed to be as yet undescribed by the scientific community, was identified. Examples of thi s taxon have been sent to The Nati onal Museum Wales (Cardiff) for verification. At the time of writing the identification of this taxon is yet to be confirmed.
All of these organisms were present in very low numbers and none were present within EA ONE.
E.4 Species of Conservation Interest
During the course of the EAOW zonal survey four particular taxa of i nterest were identified. Three taxa – the manti s shrimp Rissoides desmaresti, the amphipod Apherusa ovalipes and the spi der crab Achaeus cranchii – are recorded as nationally scarce. The abundance of each of these taxa across the EAOW zonal area i s presented in Figure 51.
14
Biodiversity:
the UK Action Plan, 1994. (Cm
2428) London: HMSO. 15
Biodiversity Reporting and Information Group
(BRIG) (ed. A. Maddock). 2008. UK Biodiversity Action Plan; Priority Habitat Descriptions [online]. UK Biodiversity Partnership. http://www.ukbap.org.uk/library/UKBAPPriorityHa bitatDescriptionsRevised20100730.pdf
