2002 Outer Hebrides Saline Lagoons Baseline Biological Survey

A 2002 baseline biological survey of 13 saline lagoon sites in the Outer Hebrides, conducted for Scottish Natural Heritage. The survey established monitoring transects and recorded species abundances, substrate details, salinity measurements, and barrier conditions. The dataset likely contains tabular records from these detailed biological and environmental observations.

Use Cases

• Establishing baseline ecological conditions for saline lagoons based on species abundance and substrate data.
• Monitoring changes in lagoon habitat health over time based on the established relocatable transects.
• Analyzing the relationship between salinity levels and biological communities from the collected water samples.
• Assessing the condition and role of isolating barriers between lagoons and the sea.

Strengths

• Survey covers 13 distinct saline lagoon sites, providing a multi-site perspective.
• Data collection includes multiple modalities: biological counts, substrate notes, photographic records, and salinity measurements.
• Established relocatable transects enable structured, repeatable monitoring.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are unknown, limiting suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias specific to the 2002 Outer Hebrides survey.

Provenance

Source

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), aggregated via Government Digital Service on eu_open_data.

Collection Method

Field surveys with established transects, biological sampling, water sampling, and photographic documentation.

Time Range

2002

Freshness

Data is from a single survey year (2002); update frequency is unknown.

Geography

Outer Hebrides, Scotland