Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T11:37:11.489Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

III.—Aspects of the Intertidal Ecology of Rocky Shores in Argyll, Scotland. I. General Description of the Area

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 May 2017

John R. Lewis
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Leeds University
H. T. Powell
Affiliation:
The Marine Station, Millport

Synopsis

A Description is given of the distribution and zonation of the dominant intertidal plants and animals found in a survey of rocky shores in Argyll, from Clachan Sound southwards to the south end of the Kintyre peninsula, thence northwards along the east side of Kintyre to Loch Fyne. Particular attention is given to two sheltered lochs, Loch Sween and West Loch Tarbert. Features of special interest in the area include: (i) a very small spring tide range (only 2–4 ft.) on much of the west coast of Kintyre, which results in a very compressed littoral zone by British standards; (ii) an unusual abundance of Chthamalus stellatus, often accompanied by a scarcity of Balanus balanoides, at very sheltered sites in Loch Sween and West Loch Tarbert (this problem is considered separately in Part II of the present paper); (iii) rich lower-shore populations in parts of the lochs, and especially associated with the Linne Mhuirich rapids in Loch Sween. In a concluding discussion the lower shore populations found in the survey area are compared with those observed in the rest of the British Isles. It is concluded that the rich lower-shore populations (often associated with rapid systems) that occur in many of the lochs on the west coast of Scotland constitute a major component of the littoral fauna and flora of the British Isles that has been largely unknown and neglected in the past because of the remoteness of many of the sites.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1959

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References to Literature

Admiralty, Hydeographic Department, 1959. The Admiralty Tide Tables, Vol. I, European Waters, 1960. London.Google Scholar
Evans, R. G., 1947. “The Intertidal Ecology of Selected Localities in the Plymouth Neighbourhood”, J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K., 27, 173218.Google Scholar
Gauld, D. T., 1950. “A Fish Cultivation Experiment in an Arm of a Sea-loch. III. The Plankton of Kyle Scotnish”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 64, 3664.Google Scholar
Gross, F., 1947. “An Experiment in Marine Fish Cultivation: I. Introduction”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 63, 12. “V. Fish Growth in a Fertilized Sea-loch (Loch Craiglin)”, ibid., 56-95.Google Scholar
Gross, F., 1950. “A Fish Cultivation Experiment in an Arm of a Sea-loch. I. Introduction”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 64, 14. “V. Fish Growth in Kyle Scotnish”, ibid., 109-135.Google Scholar
Kerr, J. Graham, 1912. “Loch Sween”, Glasg. Nat., 4, 3348.Google Scholar
Kitching, J. A., 1935. “An Introduction to the Ecology of Intertidal Rock Surfaces on the Coast of Argyll”, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., 53, 351374.Google Scholar
Kitching, J. A., 1941. “Studies in Sublittoral Ecology, III. Laminaria Forest on the West Coast of Scotland; a Study of Zonation in Relation to Wave Action and Illumination,” Biol. Bull., Woods Hole, 80, 324337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J. R., 1954. “The Ecology of Exposed Rocky Shores of Caithness”, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., 62, 695723.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. R., 1955. “The Mode of Occurrence of the Universal Intertidal Zones in Great Britain”, J. Ecol., 43, 270290.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. R., 1957a. “Intertidal Communities of the Northern and Western Coasts of Scotland”, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., 63, 185220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J. R., 1957b. “An Introduction to the Intertidal Ecology of the Rocky Shores of a Hebridean Island”, Oikos, 8, 130160.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. R., and Powell, H. T., 1960. “Aspects of the Intertidal Ecology of Rocky Shores in Argyll, Scotland. II. The Distribution of Chthamalus stellatus and Balanus balanoides in Kintyre”, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., 64, 75100.Google Scholar
MacEwan, E. A. T., and Hobson, A. D., 1954. “Occurrance of Paracentratus lividus (Lamarck) in Scotland,” Nature, Lond., 174, 752.Google Scholar
Marine Biological Association, 1957. Plymouth Marine Fauna, Third Edition, pp. i-xliii, 1457. Plymouth.Google Scholar
Marshall, S. M., 1947. “An Experiment in Marine Fish Cultivation: III. The Plankton of a Fertilized Loch”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 63, 2133.Google Scholar
Marshall, S. M., Newton, L., and Orr, A. P., et alia, 1949. A Study of Certain British Seaweeds and their Utilization in the Preparation of Agar, pp. i-viii, 1184. H.M.S.O., London.Google Scholar
Millar, R. H., 1952. “The Littoral Ascidians of Argyll”, Scot. Nat., 64, 1925.Google Scholar
Nutman, S. R., 1950. “A Fish Cultivation Experiment in an Arm of a Sea-loch. II. Observations on some Hydrographic Factors in Kyle Scotnish”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 64, 535.Google Scholar
Orr, A. P., 1947. “An Experiment in Marine Fish Cultivation: II. Some Physical and Chemical Conditions in a Fertilized Sea-loch (Loch Craiglin, Argyll)”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 63, 320.Google Scholar
Parke, M., 1953. “A Preliminary Check-list of British Marine Algse”, J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K., 32, 497520.Google Scholar
Parkes, H. M., 1958. “A General Survey of the Marine Algae of Mulroy Bay, Co. Donegal”, Irish Nat. J., 12, 277283, 324-330.Google Scholar
Powell, H. T., 1957. “Studies in the Genus Fucus L. II. Distribution and Ecology of Forms of Fucus distichus L. emend. Powell in Britain and Ireland”, J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K., 63, 663693.Google Scholar
Raymont, J. E. G., 1947. “An Experiment in Marine Fish Cultivation: IV. The Bottom Fauna and the Food of Flatfishes in a Fertilized Sea-loch (Loch Craiglin)”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 63, 3455.Google Scholar
Raymont, J. E. G., 1949. “Further Observations on Changes in the Bottom Fauna of a Fertilized Sea-loch”, J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K., 28, 919.Google Scholar
Raymont, J. E. G., 1950. “A Fish Cultivation Experiment in an Arm of a Sea-loch. IV. The Bottom Fauna of Kyle Scotnish”, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., B, 64, 65108.Google Scholar
Smyth, J. C., 1955. “A Study of the Benthic Diatoms of Loch Sween (Argyll)”, J. Ecol., 43, 149171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southward, A. J., and Crisp, D. J., 1954. “The Distribution of Certain Intertidal Animals around the Irish Coast”, Proc. Roy. Irish Acad., 57, B, 129.Google Scholar
Stephenson, T. A., and A., , 1949. “The Universal Features of Zonation between Tidemarks on Rocky Shores”, J. Ecol., 37, 289305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, W., 1953. Census Catalogue of British Lichens, pp. i-xix, 191. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar