Subtidal and Intertidal Seagrass Beds in Irish Coastal Waters

Irish coastal waters contain polygons mapping subtidal and intertidal seagrass beds. The data was created by the Marine Monitoring and Assessment Team using dive, camera, and GPS surveys, with work repeated over several years to detect change. The Government Digital Service provides this data under an open government license.

Use Cases

• Monitor changes in seagrass bed area and density over time based on repeated surveys mentioned in the description.
• Model coastal habitat distribution based on digitized polygon boundaries for subtidal and intertidal zones.
• Assess navigation safety in seagrass areas based on boundary digitization rules incorporating depth multiples.
• Prioritize future survey locations based on identified incomplete mapping in specific bays and loughs.

Strengths

• Includes both subtidal (Zostera marina) and intertidal (Zostera noltei) seagrass species.
• Survey methods are specified, including dive, towed camera, and high-spec GPS data-logger.
• Data collection was repeated over multiple years to enable change detection.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Description notes incomplete surveys in Larne Lough and Carlingford Lough, and an unmapped bed in Castleward Bay.

Provenance

Source

Marine Monitoring and Assessment Team, likely associated with the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) in the Republic of Ireland.

Collection Method

Digitized from dive, towed camera, and high-spec GPS surveys on foot and by hovercraft.

Time Range

Surveys repeated over a number of years; the layer shows the latest data.

Freshness

Last updated is unknown; planned surveys were noted for 2020.

Geography

Irish coastal waters, specifically mentioning Ballyhenry Bay, Castleward Bay, Larne Lough, and Carlingford Lough.