Marine Monitoring Procedural Guideline title

Marine Monitoring Procedural Guideline

Procedural guideline title
Author/s
Contact details

Overview
Enter general overview of procedural guideline, including its purpose (< 300 words)

Scale of operation	State spatial scale of samples e.g: Broad (>1 km^2), Meso (<1 km^2> 25 m^2), Fine (< 25 m^2).
Sampling platform	State sampling platform, e.g: research vessel, scientific divers, on foot.
Habitat-type	State habitat that procedural guideline best suited to (refer to habitats list in contract spec)..
Substratum-type	State best suited substrata for operation, e.g: hard (bedrock, boulder), mobile (cobble, pebble, gravel, sand, mud).
Target community	State target community, e.g: epifauna, infauna, water column.
Samples produced	State type of sample produced, e.g: specimens, sediments, imagery, digital data.
Data products	State data produced after sample processing, e.g: species abundance/ percentage cover per unit area (Quantitative), habitat map layer (Qualitative).
Cost per day	State approx cost per day (taken from cost summary table).
Advantages		Limitations
State advantages of procedural guideline in bullet points State advantages of procedural guideline in bullet points		State limitations of procedural guideline in bullet points State limitations of procedural guideline in bullet points

Logistics
Equipment

State equipment required for procedural guideline
Personnel requirements

State number of personnel required to carry out procedural guideline, including expertise required and training needs.

Survey planning

State survey planning steps, including arrangements to be made prior to survey (e.g: permits and permissions), vehicle hiring bookings (e.g: cars, boats), survey window recommendations (e.g. calm weather required, only sample in spring, sample on cloudy day), weather forecast checks etc.
Health and safety requirements

State all health and safety requirements for procedural guideline, including risk assessment production, training needs, obvious safety concerns.
Additional requirements

State any other additional logistical requirements for procedural guideline to be carried out.

Operational guidelines
Site selection and information

State site selection and information requirements.
Sample collection

1. 
   State logical steps to collect samples.
   
2. 
   State logical steps to collect samples.
   
3. 
   
   

Interpretation guidelines
Sample processing

1. 
   State logical steps by which samples are worked up into data using recommended data extraction measures.
   
2. 
   State logical steps by which samples are worked up into data using recommended data extraction measures.
   
3. 
   
   

Quality assurance measures
State best measures to increase the robustness of data collected and extracted during processing. These measures typically focus on increasing the accuracy (i.e. what is actually present) and the precision of estimates (i.e. the consistency between different replicates/observations) collected from the sampled area during one sampling event and over time. The more specific the better. Reference can be made to recognised agency and industry standards, e.g: NMBAQC.

Data products
Data analysis suggestions

State data analysis suggestions relevant to the data generated by the survey. These will depend largely on the questions being asked of the data and on the initial survey objectives. They will, therefore, likely be suggestive rather than prescriptive.
Database links

State the databases the survey data (including metadata) should be sent to once it has been worked up, e.g: Marine Recorder, United Kingdom Directory of the Marine-Observing Systems (UKDMOS, MEDIN, Marine Recorder) etc.


Summary of costs and time
State generalised costs for each item in the costs table. These are estimates for just one survey event and aim to give managers and surveyors an indication of cost and time required to successfully carry out a single survey. There is also a cost per day metric to create a means for comparison per unit effort (time) between procedural guidelines. There is space to expand each item if required.

Stage	Item	Estimated time (days)	Estimated cost (£)
Pre-survey	Equipment Personnel Planning Health and safety requirements and training
Survey	Sample collection
Post-survey	Sample processing Data analysis Database export
Totals		days	£
		Total cost per day	£/d

References
State references in JNCC format, e.g:
Bullimore, B (1986) Skomer Marine Reserve Subtidal Monitoring Project: photographic monitoring of subtidal epibenthic communities, August 1984–November 1985. Report to the Nature Conservancy Council. SMRSMP Report No. 5.
Christie, H, Evans, R A, and Sandness, O K (1985) Field methods for in situ subtidal hard bottom studies. In Underwater photography and television for scientists (eds J D George, G Lythgoe and J N Lythgoe), 37–47. Oxford University Press, London.
Hawkins, S J and Hartnoll, R G (1980) A compressed air drill powered by SCUBA cylinders for use on rocky shores. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science, 9, 819–820.

Appendices
Optional additional information may be added here to support understanding of procedural guideline.

“Top tips”

Optional additional information may also be added here to provide additional help and support to the user of the procedural guideline. The “top tips” will form a section of its own on the Marine Monitoring Tools Portal in which surveyors may add their personal knowledge and survey tips acquired from their years of experience, e.g: photographic tips, equipment advice, weather tips, safety tips etc.

Case studies
Optional additional information relating to direct applications of the procedural guideline or to support understanding of procedural guideline. This may take the form of a short abstract (< 500 words), supported by reference to a peer-reviewed publication or an agency report.

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