{"ob_id":10639,"uuid":"8c5b0786f3fcb3ac1fde42bea201d779","title":"ARSF - Flight GB04/19: Nigg Bay, Kincardine and Skin Flats areas","abstract":"ARSF project GB04/19: Quality assessment of restored habitats and assessment of factors that affect re-colonisation by invertebrate and avian species. Led by: Sandra Winterbotton. Location: Nigg Bay (Cromarthy Firth) / Kincardine and Skin Flats (Forth Estuary), Scotland.\r\n\r\nManaged retreat (or re-alignment) is becoming increasingly used as an alternative to coastal defence and provides the opportunity to restore or create inter-tidal habitats from agricultural land.  However, little is known about the rates and spatial variability of habitat restoration, the quality of restored habitats and the factors that affect re-colonisation by invertebrate and avian species.  The aim of this project was to use a combination of field and airborne data to assess these key factors at two sites in Scotland. Nigg Bay on the Cromarty Firth was in the very early stages of re-alignment, while the Kincardine and Skinflats mud flats on the Forth Estuary were re-aligned in 2003/2004. The collection of airborne data at such a crucial and early stage of re-alignment provided a rare opportunity to study the effects of managed retreat in detail.  This research was essential for informing future policy and for the management of re-aligned sites so that the best possible quality of restored habitats is achieved.","keywords":"","status":"completed","publicationState":"published","identifier_set":["https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/api/v2/identifiers/7049/?format=json","https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/api/v2/identifiers/7050/?format=json"],"observationCollection":["https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/api/v2/observationcollections/8604/?format=json"],"parentProject":null,"subProject":[],"responsiblepartyinfo_set":["https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/api/v2/rpis/38552/?format=json","https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/api/v2/rpis/144616/?format=json","https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/api/v2/rpis/145189/?format=json","https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/api/v2/rpis/145190/?format=json"]}