E-Thesis 406 views 142 downloads
An Assessment of The Capabilities of The In-faunal Quality Index (IQI) To Detect Benthic Ecological Change Within Offshore Windfarm Developments / SAUL MOORE
Swansea University Author: SAUL MOORE
Abstract
Many governments are turning to renewable sources of energy to tackle the current climate emergency and ensure current and future energy demands are met. Offshore wind energy is one of the fastest growing areas of the energy sector, however with increasing areas of the ocean floor being used for win...
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Swansea, Wales, UK
2023
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Master of Research |
| Degree name: | MRes |
| Supervisor: | Pope, Ed. |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63502 |
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| Abstract: |
Many governments are turning to renewable sources of energy to tackle the current climate emergency and ensure current and future energy demands are met. Offshore wind energy is one of the fastest growing areas of the energy sector, however with increasing areas of the ocean floor being used for wind and other structural installations, the need for effective envi-ronmental monitoring is crucial to ensure sustainable management of these sites. The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is one such monitoring strategy, which includes the Infaunal Qual-ity Index (IQI) method which is used by the United Kingdom to monitor benthic community health within coastal and estuarine (transitional) waterbodies. There are, however, concerns around the IQI’s capability to suitably detect ecological changes within areas modified by struc-tures (such as wind turbine monopiles). Within this investigation the IQI waterbody assess-ment protocol was compared to multivariate community analysis to assess the IQI’s ability to detect ecological change at near and far field waterbody levels within four windfarm develop-ment sites before and after windfarm construction. Findings from this investigation suggest the IQI failed to detect ecological change at a waterbody level with no significant change ap-parent, while multivariate community analysis found significant change at the same spatial and temporal scale. The suggested reasons for the IQI’s inability to detect change in these circumstances are A change in habitat (sediment characteristics) driving community change will not be identified within the IQI model as the reference conditions within the model are derived from sediment characteristics; and the waterbody scale conflates impacted areas with non-impacted areas. Alternatives to the IQI in these scenarios and possible repercussions for these findings are discussed. |
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| Keywords: |
Benthic Ecology, Infaunal Quality Index, Benthic Monitoring, Primer, Offshore Wind Energy |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |