BAP HABITAT MAPPING AT THE SBRC

A critical part of English Nature’s Lifescapes Project is to map and quantify the extent of BAP (Biodiversity Action Plan) habitats in the Suffolk Coasts & Heaths Natural Area (Figure 1). These habitats include some of the most distinguishing and treasured features of the area such as lowland heath and reedbed. Over the next 3 years, thanks to a significant financial input from English Nature, the SBRC has been able to purchase new equipment and employ an additional member of staff to undertake this task.

Figure 1 – The position of the Suffolk Coasts & Heaths
Natural Area in relation to Suffolk.

I have been employed at the SBRC since the start of the New Year and am contracted as part of the Lifescapes project. The majority of my work relates to Lifescapes mapping work and to developing the GIS capabilities of the Centre, but I also contribute to running the Records Centre deputising when necessary for the Records Centre Manager Martin Sanford.

The SBRC has found it necessary to improve significantly both its hardware and software capabilities to meet the demands of this project. Technological advances have included the addition of two new computers and the installation of MapInfo 6.5. MapInfo is a GIS programme (Geographical Information System), which allows complex spatial analysis between different environmental layers and the digitisation of new layers in a mapping environment. Long gone are the days of tracing paper and transparent overlays.

The habitat mapping has proved no easy task but is well under way with the heathland map close to completion (Figure 2). 151 fragments of heathland have been identified in the Natural Area totalling some 2600 Ha. A third of these fragments have no conservation designation and consist mainly of small scraps of land isolated in the wider countryside. In addition to heathland map, which has now been published to select organisations for comment, almost 200 individual saline lagoons have been mapped and the coverage of saltmarsh is also now largely accounted for. Also being digitised is the location of habitat restoration/creation work throughout the Natural Area: this will help to determine if the respective HAP (Habitat Action Plan) targets are being met.

Figure 2 – The current extent of heathland
in part of the Suffolk Coasts and Heaths Natural Area.

One of the most important tools in identifying the extent of habitats has been high-resolution aerial photography, which has been made available through Suffolk County Council’s Environment & Transport Department. These cover the whole of Suffolk and were taken throughout the summer of 1999. When loaded into MapInfo the photos can be analysed in some depth and related to other layers such as soils, nature reserve boundaries, and the distribution of select species. Once a habitat is identified, largely by getting the knack for what they look like (shrub heathland for example has a characteristic purple/brown tinge) a freehand polygon (a shape of any size or dimension) is drawn around the extent of the habitat. A variety of details or attributes can then be stored about the polygon such as a habitat code, whether or not it has any designation, its area, and its central grid reference.

Once the habitat maps are complete we intend to produce ‘habitat vision maps’ for the Natural Area, which will show the most appropriate areas for habitat restoration for each habitat. These will take the form of first, generic maps, which form part of a much longer-term vision, and then more specific priority area maps.

The priority maps will identify areas that are crucial to the sustainability and perpetuation of the habitat and to the maintenance of viable populations of key species. These maps will take into account factors such as the distribution of appropriate soils, the proximity to existing fragments, and the current and historical distribution of BAP species and habitats. This work will all take place within the GIS where multiple layers can be analysed statistically in relation to one another.

In the mean time there are many habitats not yet mapped, any of which could prove to be rather tricky to account for.

Carrie Howard

For more information please contact:

Carrie Howard
(Suffolk Biological Records Centre)
Tel: 01493 433571
carrie@sbrc.globalnet.co.uk

Brenda Williamson
(Suffolk Coasts and Heaths Lifescapes Project Officer)
Tel: 01502 676178
brenda.williamson@english-nature.org.uk