Core reef approach to Sabellaria spinulosa reef management in The Wash and North Norfolk Coast SAC and The Wash approaches (NERR065)

A method was developed in 2010 which synthesised historic datasets in order to identify areas which most consistently support S. spinulosa reef. However, this method was not statistically tested, and the synthesis rapidly became out-dated. To address this, the method was simplified so that it can be easily updated with new survey data. The results were demonstrated to be statistically different to random using a spatial correlation test. Comparisons between the original synthesis and the updated synthesis were used to inform discussion of the most appropriate spatial scale for defining areas of importance for S. spinulosa reef formation.