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ABSTRACT
Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region house a variety of ecosystems
from the dense pine woodland of the Algerian coast to the extremely sparsely
vegetated desert of Oman. Although cataloguing of flora and fauna in certain areas
has been meticulously detailed, standard techniques for rapid assessment across the
variety of habitats has not yet been established. Such techniques are crucial for
sustainable development, as exemplified by Environmental Impact Assessment – a
key goal of the Rio Earth Summit. This paper recommends a number of standard
techniques based on size, ecotype and habitat/species of interest. Recommendations
are then made on approaches to determine nature conservation value. This can then
be used for development projects to inform mitigation requirements and
environmental management plans.
INTRODUCTION
EcIA
Ecological Impact Assessment is ‘the process of identifying, quantifying and
evaluating the potential impacts of defined actions on ecosystems or their
components. If properly implemented, it provides a scientifically defensible approach
to ecosystem management’ (Treweek, 1999).
According to the UK Guidelines for Ecological Impact Assessment (IEEM, 2007),
surveys should be conducted using a three-stage process.
• Stage 1 (Scoping study) identifies the major environmental variables from
correspondence, websites, such as Google Earth or/and a brief walkover
survey.
• Stage 2, the major habitats within the footprint of the project are mapped in
some detail, thereby allowing comments on the nature conservation value of
areas, including potential for protected species.
• Stage 3 is not always required but where the Stage 2 has identified important
areas (for both fauna and flora), a further study can indicate the true value of
the area. In the case of protected species, Stage 3 is often a legal necessity.
Ecologists conducting field surveys within the MENA Region may be hampered by a
lack of clear direction for which type of survey techniques to use. Rather, ecologists
may then use methods based on their experience. However, survey techniques for
temperate regions may not necessarily be suitable, or, certainly, the best option for
surveys in drylands. Likewise, assessment of nature conservation value is often based
upon legal instruments, such as statutorily protected areas. However, these may be
lacking in many developing countries.
Aims
The main aim of this paper is to present a series of survey techniques that can be used
as a framework for performing terrestrial EcIA surveys, plus suggested means to
determine the nature conservation value. Faunal studies are not included in this
paper, nor are marine systems, with the exception of certain inter-tidal habitats.
Remote Sensing
The advent of sites, such as Google Earth or Virtual Earth, has allowed ecologists
unprecedented access to aerial and satellite imagery. Such imagery, including also
other aerial photography, such as fixed-wing photography, can allow broad mapping
of ‘habitat areas’. For example, a series of woodlands connected by wildlife corridors
such as hedgerows may be classed as one ‘habitat area’ due to their interconnected
ecology, rather than a series of disparate woodlands and hedgerows. Likewise, large
areas of desert, agricultural land or urban conurbations may also be classed into their
‘habitat areas’ Figure 1.
Figure 1 Interpretation of an aerial image into habitat areas (taken from Jacobs, 2006)
As well as defining larger areas of habitat, remote sensing, in the hands of an
experienced analyst, can also allow the breaking down of large areas of habitat into
smaller portions of differing nature conservation value. For instance, woodland areas
may be subdivided into compartments dominated by conifers, broadleaves and scrub.
Desert environments may be broken down into dune systems, sabkhas, pavements and
so on.
Transects
Although used extensively in research to gauge vegetation composition, in EcIA,
transects are primarily of use for monitoring purposes. Transects cannot normally be
used in EcIA for Stage 2 surveys as the survey must take account the entire footprint
of the proposed impact. Thus, a transect may miss areas of important habitat as they
are located outside of the survey corridor, yet inside of the development footprint.
Hence, a technique which attempts to cover the whole footprint must be used in the
Stage 2 survey. Although it would appear that linear structures (roads, railways,
pipelines, canals etc), would lend itself to a transect survey in the Stage 2 or Stage 3
process, the majority of times, a greater amount of information would be provided by
using an adapted River Corridor Survey.
Transects can be very useful for monitoring impacts and mitigation. By fixing a
transect across an area due to be impacted, details can be provided regarding
vegetation structure before and after the impact. Transects are also useful for
gathering data regarding succession. For example, where mitigation of the impact is
designed to re-vegetate an area, a transect can run from one area outside of the
impact, across the mitigated area, meeting the non-impacted side directly across.
Succession can then be measured using simple line drawings, combined with
dominant species/community codings (Figure 6).
Pre-impact
← 30 m →←10 m→← 30 m →← 20 m →←10 m→
Species x Bare Species y Species x Species z
Post-impact
← 30 m →← 60 m →←10 m→
Species x Bare Species z
Post-mitigation
← 40 m →← 40 m →←10 m→←10 m→
Species x Bare Species x Species z
Figure 6 Line drawings illustrating monitoring of dominant vegetation before impact, after
impact (as shown by an increase in bare earth) and post-mitigation (regeneration reducing bare
earth).
Quadrats
Quadrats are regularly used in to conduct Stage 3 surveys in EIA. However, these
may not be as useful for the MENA Region as elsewhere. In the UK, for example,
results can be used to categorise plant assemblages into communities listed in the
National Vegetation Classification (NVC). These classifications are described in
detail within British Plant Communities (Rodwell, 1990 et seq.). The descriptions
include habitat, history, affinities, species list, succession and distribution. In the
MENA Region, however, such detailed classification is rare. Where such information
does exist, then quadrats can be extremely useful. However, where this information is
absent, then the result is often merely the recognition of a community through
dominance. Where this is likely to be the outcome, then a quicker method, such as
Phase 1 is recommended.
Where quadrats can be useful is in areas of high biodiversity identified using a Stage
2 (rarely Stage 1) survey. Here, a Stage 3 quadrat survey can be used to obtain a
comprehensive species list, containing dominant ratings (for example, according to
the Domin scale or DAFOR ratings), constant species and differential vegetation.
Quadrats can also be used for monitoring purposes. In particular, quadrats can be
useful for monitoring species diversity and vertical succession. For monitoring
purposes, quadrats should be fixed, either by physical markers or by using GPS co-
ordinates. In all cases, methodology should be similar to that of the NVC or
Australian Native Vegetation Survey (Biological Survey of South Australia, 1997),
that is, quadrats should sample representative ‘typical’ areas of the habitat, rather than
‘special’ areas, e.g. areas that are not especially rich or poor should be sampled.
Ecotones should be avoided with homogenous stands of vegetation selected instead.
Quadrat sizes should be decided by the ecologist on the ground but as a guide the
following may be useful:
50 x 50 m for woodland canopy/open desert;
10 x 10 m for scrub and species poor grassland/sub-shrub
4 x 4 m for scrub/sub-shrub
2 x 2 m for species-rich grassland
Note: for woodlands, the canopy should be surveyed separately from the ground
layer. The ground layer should be identified as a separate habitat, for instance,
species-poor grassland if appropriate.
Due to the lack of recommended ecological survey techniques, ecologists have often
previously utilised techniques according to their country of origin/training. However,
these techniques are not always suitable for the ecosystems of the MENA Region.
Additionally, some of these techniques are more useful for generally classifying an
area. However, EcIA requires an assessment of the conservation value of the area(s)
to be affected, either directly or indirectly. This paper recommends a suite of
techniques drawn from across the globe that may be used by experienced ecologists
according to the development or/and the habitat (Table 1).
Table 1 Techniques that may be used for habitat assessment following the three stage guidance
recommended by IEEM (2007), plus monitoring. (*) represents that this technique is rarely used
in this stage but may occasionally be appropriate.
Technique Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Monitoring
Remote Sensing * *
Scale-Related * *
Mexican Arid *
Rapid Coastal Assessment * * *
(Extended) Phase 1 * * *
Rare Plant (*) * *
River Corridor (*) * *
Quadrats * *
Transects (*) *
Further work (Table 2) is required to make these techniques fully integrated into the
MENA Region. In particular:
The Phase 1 habitat survey requires updating to reflect additional habitats (e.g. desert
environments) and replacement indicator species in the MENA Region.
Similar updates are required for the River Corridor Survey.
Trials to provide vegetation-environment relationships for the MENA Region using
the Mexican Arid Survey are required. It is likely the benefits of this package will be
wide-ranging across the Region, saving costs for developers/ conservation
organisations that require rapid assessments of major environmental constraints.
By altering the Rapid Coastal Assessment technique, this survey may be adapted for
terrestrial environments. It is unlikely that one set of questions could be useful for all
terrestrial habitats. Nevertheless, methods for use in selected environments, such as
arid, temperate, montane and so on would be extremely useful as a management tool.
Obviously, once such proformas are detailed, these could be implemented time and
again across the region without the need for further altering of the questionnaire.
Table 2 Additional work required to integrate survey techniques into the MENA Region
Technique Additional Work Required
Remote Sensing
Mexican Arid Vegetation-environment relationships established through field trials
Rapid Coastal Modification of survey questionnaire towards terrestrial environments
Assessment
Scale-Related
(Extended) Phase 1 Additional habitat categories.
Update of indicator species.
Rare Plant Readily available local and national species lists.
River Corridor Additional habitat categories.
Update of indicator species.
Additional work is generally required in cataloguing habitat requirements of flora to
determine local and national priority species/habitats. Often this work is present in
the MENA Region, although not necessarily enshrined in law nor necessarily easily
accessible in all countries.
Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species provides taxonomic, conservation status
and distribution information of species. These species are globally evaluated to
catalogue and highlight those taxa that are facing a high risk of global extinction to
those of least concern (http://redlist.org, 2008). Species can be arranged by, for
instance, country and habitat. Thus, by selecting the appropriate codes, the species of
most concern in the salt marshes of Egypt may be listed.
There are, however, two main drawbacks to the Red List. Firstly, not all species are
categorised due to data deficiency and those that are may not necessarily be
categorised with the most up-to-date information. Secondly, the local or regional
status of species is not necessarily the same as that of the global status. For instance,
tree-dwelling invertebrates within Mediterranean forests may be of 'least concern'
globally. However, within a sparsely vegetated environment, these same species may
be a local conservation priority. Nevertheless, the IUCN Red List should always be
referenced when deciding the key species of global conservation concern.
EUNIS
The EUNIS Database is useful both as a tool for identifying habitats from field data
and as a source of conservation information. Ecologists are able to identify potential
habitats using species identified from either surveys or data searches. Once a habitat
is identified, the database can be used to assess distribution of this habitat and the
legal status in, at least, the European Union. Although this may not at first glance
appear to be useful in the MENA Region, many habitats, especially in North Africa,
are reflections of those in the EU. Thus, it can be generally assumed a protected
habitat in Southern Spain is likely to be as important if detected in, say, Morocco.
Therefore, conservation value can be identified by proxy. This is similar to the
procedure undertaken in many Eastern European countries not within the EU.
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