Aqua-Fact International Services Ltd. services

Univariate statistics in the form of diversity indices are calculated, i.e. Margalef’s species richness index, Pielou’s Evenness index and Shannon-Wiener diversity index. Species richness is a measure of the total number of species present for a given number of individuals. Evenness is a measure of how evenly the individuals are distributed among different species. The diversity index incorporates both of these parameters. Richness ranges from 0 (low richness) to 12 (high richness), evenness ranges from 0 (low evenness) to 1 (high evenness), diversity ranges from 0 (low diversity) to 5 (high diversity).

SEA is the formal, systematic evaluation of the likely significant environmental effects of implementing a national or regional plan before a decision is made to adopt the plan. Environmental assessment is defined under the SEA Directive as:the preparation of an environmental report, the carrying out of consultations, the taking into account of the environmental report and the results of the consultations in decision making together with the provision of information.

AQUAFACT carries out a lot of the environmental work that accompanies planning applications. Under Irish planning law, all planning decisions made by planning authorities may be subject to independent review by An Bord Pleanála. The Board has absolute discretion to hold an oral hearing with or without a request from a party and will generally only hold one where this will aid its understanding of a particularly complex case or where it considers that significant national or local issues are involved. The Board may also direct the holding of an oral hearing to determine whether an appeal is made with the sole intention of delaying development or of securing the payment of money, gifts, considerations or other inducement by any person.

An important role of AQUAFACT’s is to monitor the effect of human influences on biodiversity. In order to assess these influences it is first necessary to characterise the flora and fauna of a region and to obtain a basic understanding of species, biodiversity and evolution. Following a decline in taxonomic training for many years, the discipline has recently experienced a revival fuelled by exploration of deep-sea environments and the subsequent discovery of countless new species of animals.