List of all metadata reports |  This report's TOC |  Previous Page |  Next Page

12.0 SELECTION OF REGIONAL COUNCIL MARINE ENVIRONMENT DATABASES AND DATA SETS

While the focus of this review was on national level databases this is not sufficient to provide a true indication of the marine environment databases that could be relevant to the Environmental Performance Indicators Programme. As there was not the resources to undertake a thorough analysis of regional council databases in the marine environment, a sample of marine environment databases was selected from four councils: Auckland Regional Council; Environment Bay of Plenty; Environment Waikato; and Environment Southland. While the Waikato Regional Council marine environment database is comprehensive in terms of databases covered, there may, for the other three councils, be additional databases that apply to the marine environment. The databases included in this report are intended to provide an indication of the scope of marine data sets that exist in at least some regions. A full review of all marine environment databases held by local authorities would need to be a separate project.

Database Title

12.1.1 Auckland Regional Council marine ecological database
Keywords
Type1.
Type 11.		 Coastal; benthic; fauna
Auckland Region
Abstract

This is a subset of the Marine Benthic Database created by NIWA for the Ministry for the Environment and regional councils. It contains benthic fauna datasets for the Auckland Region including the following locations:

1. Manukau Harbour-6 intertidal sandflat sites

2. Mahurangi -5 intertidal and 3 subtidal sites

3. Okura- 4 intertidal sites.

Other location/site datasets have yet to be added to the database:

4. Long Bay and 5 other East Coast rocky subtidal locations
Long Bay and 3 other East Coast intertidal beach locations.

The Council plans to expand the range of methods, habitats, locations and sites in the database to provide a more comprehensive regional state of environment monitoring framework.

Geographical Coverage Auckland Region Coastal Marine Area
Dataset start date. 1987 for Manukau; 1994 for Mahurangi; 1998 for "Long Bay"
Dataset end date. In progress
Status/currency. Current
Update frequency. Database updated annually
Maintenance. ARC co-ordination; NIWA data update

 

Technical Evaluation

  
Parameters- what is measured Locations 1, 2 &3
  • Species present;
  • Size of individuals for selected species;
  • Site parameters including: sediment particle size

Long Bay:

  • As above plus sediment quantity
Parameters- what is calculated Size class distribution for selected species
Methods used to measure parameters Locations 1-3: Stratified random sampling in the identified habitat types to select sites. Core samples are sieved using a 500 micron mesh. All organisms are identified as far as possible and sizes of selected key species are measured.

Location 4 (Long Bay project). There is measurement of the in-situ rocky subtidal biota using quadrats. Sediment traps are used to measure sediment quantity. Intertidal beach sites are sampled using quadrats on transects. Samples are sieved to 1mm.
Scale of use. Detailed
Number of records 1.Manukau-consistent monthly monitoring of 2 sites since 1987; Initial 5-7 years of monthly data for these plus 4 other sites. Data analysis after the initial 5-7 year period allowed subsequent monitoring to be reduced to 2 sites. There is periodic (5 yearly) checking of all 6 sites to verify applicability of the ongoing detailed monitoring.

2.Mahurangi- monthly monitoring of 8 sites, with a first review in 2000/01.
GIS compatibility. Spatially referenced data (latitude and longitude)
Available formats for users. Access database, various council reports
Access constraints. None known
Measurement Accuracy Length measurements to nearest 1-2mm.
Completeness of dataset Dataset complete for Manukau, Mahurangi, and Okura up to April 2000.
Positional accuracy To be completed by database manager.
Database steward NIWA Ecosystems (Judi Hewitt)
Database custodian Auckland Regional Council
Database custodian contact person Dominic McCarthy (or Chris Hatton, Manager Environmental Research)
Database custodian Contact
Address
Phone
Fax
Email		 Private Bag 92 012
Auckland
+64 9 366 2000, ext 8459
+64 9 366 2155
dmccarthy@arc.govt.nz
References -
Date metadata record prepared. June 2000
Author of metadata record. Victoria Froude / Dominic McCarthy

 

Management Evaluation

  
Original purpose.
  1. Manukau Harbour: Established as part of the Manukau Harbour Action Plan implementation. Long term state of environment monitoring.
  2. Mahurangi: Established as part of the Mahurangi catchment investigations.Long term state of environment monitoring.
  3. Okura: To assess whether protective sediment control measures, put in place for managing Okura catchment development activities, effectively protect marine ecological condition.
  4. Long Bay/East Coast: To verify the assumption behind an Environment Court decision. That is intensive urbanisation in the Long Bay catchment should not significantly affect the high-energy coastal receiving environment
Relationships with classification systems. N/A
Relationships with other databases
  • Link with ARC water quality, sediment quality and sentinel shellfish quality databases.
  • Uses the NIWA marine benthic database
Database uses? Currently the electronic database is used by ARC and NIWA. Access by MFE, other councils and the public still being developed
Public awareness of the database Low
Database strengths. Central repository of marine ecological information
Database limitations.
  • There is no consistent monitoring methodology used nationally which makes it difficult to compare results between councils.
  • Only some types of monitoring data (detailed site specific data) are amenable to being stored in the current database. GIS linkages could facilitate the storage of broad scale habitat mapping information)

 

What are the Current and Emerging Uses of the Database for:

  
Assisting with determining historic state/baseline. The Manukau Harbour data is probably the longest time series Harbour ecology monitoring programme in New Zealand. This data has clarified some complex ecological cyclic patterns and improved council's ability to distinguish trends from natural variability.
Assisting with determining current state/baseline. The existing monitoring network provides information on the current state of the areas being monitored. The proposed widening of the monitoring network will provide an improved regional habitat and ecology baseline.
Assisting with modeling possible future outcomes. The data is being used to model possible future scenarios. For example it is being used to predict the potential effects of activities such as increasing urbanisation in a catchment. The detailed sediment effects modelling for the Okura catchment used base ecological data from this database.
Risk assessment. The effects of different catchment development scenarios on Okura estuarine ecology has been modelled. This helps to identify the risks of different scenarios.
Monitoring site selection and sample design. There is periodic review of the monitoring sites to assess whether they form the most appropriate suite of sites. There is monitoring at a range of spatial scales and data collection intensities.
Aggregating and reporting data locally, regionally or nationally. Currently all data on the database is collected for ARC. Data can be reported locally and regionally. National reporting will be constrained by a lack of nationwide consistent methods.