UK Atlas of Seabed Habitats: Combined Map of UK Waters v2025.1

UKASH Combined Map is the most comprehensive full-coverage map of seabed habitats in UK waters, except for the intertidal zone. It integrates ground-truthed local maps with a predictive model to calculate total habitat areas, produced by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and last updated in April 2026. The map supports assessments of marine protected area networks using the Marine Habitat Classification for Britain and Ireland and the EUNIS standard.

Use Cases

• Calculate total area of broad-scale habitats within UK waters based on the best-available combined data.
• Assess the adequacy of the UK marine protected area network using habitat coverage maps.
• Model physical seabed habitats in areas lacking ground-truthed data, based on the UKSeaMap predictive layer.
• Analyze spatial patterns of seabed habitats by integrating localised maps with a seamless predictive base.

Strengths

• Combines multiple mapping products to create a full-coverage map of UK seabed habitats.
• Enables calculation of total habitat area within UK waters and regional seas.
• Prioritises the most reliable ground-truthed maps from the UKASH Library in its mosaic.

Limitations

• Spatial and thematic detail is typically low where the source is the UKSeaMap predictive layer.
• Data quality varies due to the integration of source maps with different methodologies and resolutions.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Collection Method

Combines the UKASH Mosaic of Localised Maps (ground-truthed) with the UKSeaMap Predictive Map to fill gaps.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-14 09:48:13.709902; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United Kingdom waters and regional seas.