Habitat evidence / confidence
The scale indicates an appraisal of the specificity of the information (and data) available to support the assessment of intolerance, recoverability, and hence, sensitivity.
| Evidence/Confidence | Definition |
|---|---|
| High | Assessment has been derived from sources that specifically deal with sensitivity and recoverability of a species or biotope to a particular factor. Experimental work has been done investigating the effects of such a factor. |
| Moderate | Assessment has been derived from sources that consider the likely effects of a particular factor on a species or biotope. |
| Low | Assessment has been derived from sources that only cover aspects of the biology of the species (or biotope) or from a general understanding of the species or biotope. No information is present regarding the effects of factors. |
| Very low | Assessment derived by "informed judgement" where very little or no information is present at all on the species. |
| Not relevant | No assessment of sensitivity or recoverability was made. |
| NB: | In some cases it is possible for limited evidence to be considered "High" for the assessment of sensitivity to a specific factor. For example, if a species is known to lack eyes (or equivalent photoreceptors) then it could confidently be considered "not sensitive" to visual disturbance and the level of evidence would be recorded as "high". |
