Broadscale habitat (EUNIS level3) for the Mid St George's Channel recommended Marine Conservation Zone (rMCZ)

Feature class depicting broadscale habitat features at the Mid St George’s Channel rMCZ. The map is a result of an integrated analysis of newly acquired and previously available acoustic data together with ground-truthing data collected by a dedicated survey of the site in 2013. Habitat classes observed at each ground-truthing station were used to inform a semi-automated process of map production using object-based image analysis (OBIA). The map shows the seabed at the site to be characterised largely by ‘A5.1 Subtidal coarse sediment’ and ‘A5.4 Subtidal mixed sediments’, which are mapped together as a complex due to difficulty in separating the two from the underlying acoustic data. Smaller patches of ‘A5.2 Subtidal sand’ and ‘A4.2 Moderate energy circalittoral rock’ are also found within the site. Additional information source: Downie, A., Eggleton, J., Schinaia, S. 2015. Mid St George's Channel rMCZ Post-survey Site Report http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=12842_MidStGeorgesChannelrMCZSiteReport_V5.pdf