WFD Cycle 2 TraC Macroalgae Classification for UK Water Bodies

Environment Agency data classifies transitional and coastal water bodies based on macroalgae communities. The classification uses Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) scores from up to two assessment tools per water body type to assign a status of High, Good, Moderate, Poor, or Bad. This dataset is a retired subset of the WFD Classification Status Cycle 2.

Use Cases

• Assess ecological health of transitional water bodies based on Opportunistic Macroalgae and Fucoid Extent metrics.
• Evaluate coastal water quality based on Opportunistic Macroalgae and Rockshore Macroalgae tool assessments.
• Map water body classifications for environmental reporting based on the High/Good/Moderate/Poor/Bad status scale.

Strengths

• Classification data is derived from specific, named assessment tools (Opportunistic Macroalgae, Fucoid Extent, Rockshore Macroalgae).
• Provides a standardized ecological status scale (High, Good, Moderate, Poor, Bad) for regulatory compliance.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset has been retired and superseded by a newer record.

Provenance

Source

Environment Agency

Collection Method

Tool assessments comparing observed macroalgae metric scores against reference conditions.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-17 15:08:49.004344; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Transitional and coastal water bodies, likely in the United Kingdom.