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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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Published: Swansea, Wales, UK 2023
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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first_indexed 2023-05-19T07:00:30Z
last_indexed 2023-05-19T07:00:30Z
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spelling v2 63502 2023-05-19 An Assessment of The Capabilities of The In-faunal Quality Index (IQI) To Detect Benthic Ecological Change Within Offshore Windfarm Developments 4dcf349b1f0c8c7e39f5b42069c6a4e5 SAUL MOORE SAUL MOORE true false 2023-05-19 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. E-Thesis Swansea, Wales, UK Benthic Ecology, Infaunal Quality Index, Benthic Monitoring, Primer, Offshore Wind Energy 20 4 2023 2023-04-20 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Pope, Ed. Master of Research MRes 2023-10-27T15:31:50.1529725 2023-05-19T07:58:09.1782783 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences SAUL MOORE 1 63502__27529__ff31a46dbadf4879b922d3fda12a7ff9.pdf 2023_Moore_S.final.63502.pdf 2023-05-19T08:19:00.1797899 Output 2814229 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright: The Author, Saul Moore, 2023. true eng
title An Assessment of The Capabilities of The In-faunal Quality Index (IQI) To Detect Benthic Ecological Change Within Offshore Windfarm Developments
spellingShingle An Assessment of The Capabilities of The In-faunal Quality Index (IQI) To Detect Benthic Ecological Change Within Offshore Windfarm Developments
SAUL MOORE
title_short An Assessment of The Capabilities of The In-faunal Quality Index (IQI) To Detect Benthic Ecological Change Within Offshore Windfarm Developments
title_full An Assessment of The Capabilities of The In-faunal Quality Index (IQI) To Detect Benthic Ecological Change Within Offshore Windfarm Developments
title_fullStr An Assessment of The Capabilities of The In-faunal Quality Index (IQI) To Detect Benthic Ecological Change Within Offshore Windfarm Developments
title_full_unstemmed An Assessment of The Capabilities of The In-faunal Quality Index (IQI) To Detect Benthic Ecological Change Within Offshore Windfarm Developments
title_sort An Assessment of The Capabilities of The In-faunal Quality Index (IQI) To Detect Benthic Ecological Change Within Offshore Windfarm Developments
author_id_str_mv 4dcf349b1f0c8c7e39f5b42069c6a4e5
author_id_fullname_str_mv 4dcf349b1f0c8c7e39f5b42069c6a4e5_***_SAUL MOORE
author SAUL MOORE
author2 SAUL MOORE
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2023
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description 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.
published_date 2023-04-20T15:31:48Z
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score 11.017016

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