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Database Title	12.2.1 Environment Bay of Plenty Ecological Database
Keywords Type1. Type 11.	Benthic; fauna Bay of Plenty
Abstract	This is based on the Marine Benthic Database established by NIWA. It includes benthic macrofauna data from both hard (3 sites) and soft shores (51 sites). Sites are monitored annually. Additional data associated with consent monitoring e.g. Shellfish densities at Maketu Estuary is also available.
Geographical Coverage	Bay of Plenty Region
Dataset start date.	1990
Dataset end date.	In progress
Status/currency.	21 sites current
Update frequency.	Annual
Maintenance.	Data maintained by Environment BOP

 

Technical Evaluation
Parameters- what is measured	Species present Numbers of each (selected) species Length of shellfish Sediment particle size Total organic carbon Note:Sea lettuce has been monitored 6 times per year at 3 sites in Tauranga Harbour since 1991. Parameters measured are: abundance/biomass; and tissue nutrient content.
Parameters- what is calculated	Density of species and species richness
Methods used to measure parameters	Soft sediments: use same techniques as Auckland Regional Council, except for sieve size. Hard shores -use same techniques as Taranaki Regional Council. (Nested block design with 24 replicates).
Scale of use.	Detailed
Number of records	21 sites with 10 years of data and rest with minimum 5 years data.
GIS compatibility.	Sites are geographically referenced
Available formats for users.	Data is in Excel
Access constraints.	None known.
Measurement Accuracy	Most taxa recorded to species level. All physical and chemical analyses using standard methods and registered laboratory.
Completeness of dataset	Complete
Positional accuracy	+/- 1m
Database steward	NIWA for the framework. They would need to be allocated funding specifically to maintain an active ongoing role.
Database custodian	Environment Bay of Plenty
Database custodian contact person	Scientific: Stephen Park Technical: Mark Langridge
Database custodian Contact Address Phone Fax Email	Box 364 Whakatane 0800 368 267 0800 ENVFAX Stephen@boprc.govt.nz mark@ebop.govt.nz
References	-
Date metadata record prepared.	June 2000
Author of metadata record.	Victoria Froude / Stephen Park

 

Management Evaluation
Original purpose.	To address Environment BOP's responsibilities under Rthe MA to monitor the state of the environment. The parameters measured are considered sufficiently sensitive to use for long term monitoring to identify the effectiveness or otherwise of plan policy and implementation for protecting marine ecology.
Relationships with classification systems.	Use standard taxonomic classification and physical/habitat descriptions.
Relationships with other databases	Chemical/physical analyses collected as part of ecological monitoring are stored in separate database but linked by sample key. Uses the NIWA marine benthic database template.
Database uses?	Environment BOP and anyone (usually consultants) wanting species compositional data for a given area.
Public awareness of the database	Monitoring results reported at regular intervals and publicised with copies of reports sent to all schools/public libraries.
Database strengths.	Very accurate assessment of temporal variability of benthic community health or individual species changes at monitored sites.
Database limitations.	Information is limited spatially to site location.

 

What are the Current and Emerging Uses of the Database for:
Assisting with determining historic state/baseline.	Yes - as stated above
Assisting with determining current state/baseline.	Yes - as stated above
Assisting with modeling possible future outcomes.	Yes - possible although limited obviously to nature of data.
Risk assessment.	Yes - possible although limited obviously to nature of data.
Monitoring site selection and sample design.	Yes - possible although limited obviously to nature of data.
Aggregating and reporting data locally, regionally or nationally.	Possible at local and regional level.