Index to Monitoring

There are three key stages in any process which aims to monitor the status of any habitat. The first requires the establishment of a baseline description (survey); the second a process, which helps identify change these may be described as follows:

1. survey to establish the location, scale and value of a particular resource;
2. surveillance to identify unforeseen change and where appropriate ensure compliance with agreed legislative or other control mechanisms - simply 'watching to see what happens';
3. monitoring to help identify and assess the effect of management policy or action on a given set of parameters and give feedback on their effectiveness.

The purposes of survey and monitoring are included in this guide.

Survey

A survey of the larger coastal vegetated shingle sites in Great Britain, which was undertaken in the early 1980s, provides much of the information on site location and vegetation (Sneddon & Randall 1993a Main Report; Sneddon & Randall 1993b Wales; Sneddon & Randall 1994a Scotland; Sneddon & Randall 1994b England). [The shingle survey remains one of the few national surveys to be completed for the whole coast the others being saltmarsh (Burd 1989); sand dunes in England (Radley 1994), Wales (Dargie 1995) and Scotland (Dargie 1993) see Coastal Habitat Restoration, towards good practice').] Information on the National Vegetation Classification is also provided.

Monitoring

These and other surveys provide base-line surveys against which changes that may be occurring can be identified. Where change is identified or where management requires more specific monitoring to assess the effectiveness of treatment more detailed work may be required. Coastal vegetated shingle is a priority habitat in the UK Biodiversity action plan and several shingle species are priority species. All sites should be recorded and monitored with these designations in mind.

The UK Common Standards Monitoring Programme provides a valuable framework for monitoring. Other more specific approaches include:

• methods of bird survey;
• use of fixed-point photography;
• geomorphic surveys;
• hydrology and soils;
• invertebrate surveys;
• Transects;
• Remote sensing.

References

Burd, F. 1989. The Saltmarsh Survey of Great Britain. An Inventory of British Saltmarshes. Research & survey in nature conservation, 17 Nature Conservancy Council, Peterborough.

Dargie, T.C.D. 1993. Sand Dune Inventory of Great Britain, a National Inventory, Part 2, Scotland. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.

Dargie, T.C.D. 1995. Sand Dune Survey of Great Britain, a National Inventory, Part 3, Wales. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.

Radley, G..P. 1994. Sand Dune Vegetation Survey of Great Britain: a National Inventory, Part 1 - England. Jiont Nature Conservation Committee.

Sneddon, P. & Randall, R.E. 1993a. Coastal Vegetated Shingle Structures of Great Britain: Main Report. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.

Sneddon, P. & Randall, R.E. 1993b. Coastal Vegetated Shingle Structures of Great Britain: Appendix 1, Wales. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.

Sneddon, P. & Randall, R.E. 1994a. Coastal Vegetated Shingle Structures of Great Britain: Appendix 2, Scotland. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.

Sneddon, P. & Randall, R.E. 1994b. Coastal Vegetated Shingle Structures of Great Britain: Appendix 3, England. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough.