JNCC has actively contributed to the development of the marine
sections of the EUNIS classification, since development began in
1996, with both the structure and detail of the marine
classification strongly influenced by JNCC-led work in this area.
The 2004 version of the
National Marine Habitat Classification
for Britain and Ireland together with the
north-east Atlantic classification developed for
the OSPAR Convention in 2004 were fully incorporated to produce the
2004 EUNIS classification. The current 2007 version was
created with additional habitat types and revisions to the
heirarchical structure, and is available
here.
Classification Updates
With new data available, JNCC are currently working on
updating two areas of the classification: the offshore coarse
sediments, particularly the circalittoral coarse and mixed
sediments, and the deep-sea bed. These changes will also be
incorporated into the
national classification.
To support the work of the
OSPAR Biodiversity Committee, JNCC led on
several international workshops (Oban 1999, Southampton 2000) which
were held jointly by OSPAR, the International Council for the
Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the European Environment Agency
(EEA) to further develop the north-east Atlantic sections of
the
EUNIS classification. Following a literature
review by OSPAR contracting parties, a revised habitat
classification for the north-east Atlantic was agreed at the
Biodiversity Committee in February 2004 and was incorporated into
the 2004 version of the
EUNIS
classification.
For more information on defining new biotopes and potential
issues with using EUNIS, see this
paper, which was
initially created for the
MESH (Mapping European Seabed Habitats)
project.
Correlation with other classifications
A
correlation
table has been prepared by JNCC which converts the latest EUNIS
marine classification (2007) to the following schemes:
2004 EUNIS classification
Users of the correlation table should be aware that there may
not be a clear relationship between habitats in classification
schemes and lists of protected habitats (Habitats Directive, OSPAR,
BAP), especially as the latter are not always precisely defined.
Caution should therefore be exercised in using and applying the
table.