Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T19:00:43.551Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Decline of Zostera Marina L. at Salcombe and its Effects on the Shore

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Douglas P. Wilson
Affiliation:
Zoologist at the Plymouth Laboratory

Extract

A comparison of photographs taken on the eastern shore of Salcombe harbour before and after the disappearance of much of the Zostera marina L. shows that where previously there existed extensive sand banks, stabilized by the growth of this plant, there has been a lowering of ground level of 2 ft. or more, due to the washing away of the sand where the Zostera has died. Much of the ground is more stony than before and has become largely covered with seaweed attached to the stones. The buried fauna is not as rich as it was and some species previously common are rare or have disappeared altogether. A few small patches of Zostera still survive, but the plants are shorter with narrower leaves than before.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1949

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

Allen, E. J. & Todd, R. A., 1900. The fauna of the Salcombe estuary. Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc., Vol. VI, pp. 151217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkins, W. R. G., 1938. The disappearance of Zostera marina. Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc., Vol. XXIII, pp. 207–10.Google Scholar
Blackburn, K. B., 1934. Wasting disease of Zostera marina. Nature, Vol. CXXXIV, P. 738.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butcher, R. W., 1934. Zostera. Report on the present condition of eel grass on the coasts of England, based on a survey during August to October, 1933. Journ. Cons. Perm. Internat. Explor. Mer, Vol. IX, pp. 4965.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butcher, R. W., 1935. Wasting disease of Zostera marina. Nature, Vol. CXXV, p. 545.Google Scholar
Cottam, C., 1935. Wasting disease of Zostera marina. Nature, Vol. CXXV, p. 306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cottam, C., 1938. Status of eelgrass (Zostera marina) on the north Atlantic Coast, February 1938. U.S. Dep. Agr. Bur. Biol. Survey. Wildlife Research and Management Leaflet B.S. 11O.Google Scholar
Cottam, C., 1945. Eelgrass conditions along the Atlantic seaboard of North America. Plant Disease Reporter, Vol. XXIX, No. 12 pp. 302–10.Google Scholar
Mounce, I. & Diehl, W. W., 1934. A new Ophiobolus on eelgrass. Can. Journ. Res., Vol. XI, pp. 242–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petersen, H. E., 1935. Preliminary report on the disease of the eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.). Rep. Danish Biol. Sta., Vol. XL, pp. 38.Google Scholar
Renn, C. E., 1936. The wasting disease of Zostera marina. Biol. Bull. Woods Hole, Vol. LXX, pp. 148–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Setchell, W. A., 1929. Morphological and phenological notes on Zostera marina L. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot., Vol. 14, pp. 289452.Google Scholar
Tutin, T. G., 1936. New species of Zostera from Britain. Journ. Bot., Vol. LXXIV, pp. 227–30.Google Scholar
Tutin, T. G., 1938. The autecology of Zostera marina in relation to its wasting disease. New Phytologist, Vol. XXXVII, pp. 5071.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tutin, T. G., 1942. Biological Flora of the British Isles. Zostera L. Journ. Ecology, Vol. 30, pp. 217–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, D. P., 1935. Life of the Shore and Shallow Sea. London.Google Scholar
Young, E. L. III, 1943. Studies on Labyrinthula, the etiologic agent of the wasting disease of eel-grass. Amer. Journ. Bot., Vol. 30, pp. 586–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar