Sarn Badrig (Tremadoc Bay) lifeforms map

Mapping the distribution of benthic biotopes at Sarn Badrig and St. Tudwal's Island, Tremadoc Bay was undertaken as part of the BioMar Project, in collaboration with the Countryside Council for Wales. The BioMar team in Newcastle are evaluating methods to generate biotope distribution maps based on continuous data collected using acoustic methods. Point samples of detailed biotope data can be linked to the acoustic map. Acoustic data can validate the interpolation of biotope data and hence increase the degree of confidence attached to a biotope distribution map. These key physical factors can be relatively easily obtained using acoustic methods to give a much greater coverage than could be obtained by direct viewing of the biotopes. Thus biotope mapping is, in principle, a process of matching restricted information on biological components to more general coverage of key physical characteristics of the sea floor.