Mari2300 Marine Biology : About Assessment Answers

Write a paragraph or two introducing the rocky shore in the UK, also mention which zones the species of algae listed below are found in rocky shores, which ones are the more dominant and which species are less abundant?. do not explain the reasons why some species are more dominant, just a description of each species and the area/zone they are found in. include references.

Algae species list:

- Ascophyllum nodosum
- Fucus serratus
- Fucus vesiculosus
- Fucus spiralis
- Pelvetia Canaliculata
- Corallina officinallis
- Filamentous green algae

Answer:

The rocky shores are widely found in the U.K., which consist of the rocky terrain, vertical rocks, or the boulders that are surrounded by the areas of sediments. It is the intertidal area which consists of the solid rock, which proves to be a biologically rich area for different types of habitat. At this shores only the community of the hard animals and plants, those are particularly adapted accordingly can only survive in that harsh environment.

Ascophyllum nodosum – Ascophyllum nodosum is a brown and large seawood, which is dominant the rocky shores. This type of algae is having long straps which look like frond containing the egg-shaped bladders. These fronds are 0.5 to 2 cm in length and bears tuffs of the small reddish brown in colour. This species grows very slowly and can live up to several decades old. This algae is found on the sheltered shores such as on the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland.

Fucus serratus – Fuccus serratus is a type of robust algae whose colour is olive brown and is also known as toothed wrack or serrated wrack. It is having a disc shape base and from the base it grows upto 6ft (180 cm) long. The frond of this alga is generally flat and about 2 cm wide, is bifurcated and grows upto 1m long. It is mainly found in the Atlantic coast of Europe from Portugal to Svalbard, on the shores of north – east America and in the Canary Islands².

Fucus vesiculosus – Mainly found on the coasts of the Western Baltic Sea, North Sea, and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans is known as bladder wrack. It is mainly found on the sea shores of the British Isles. It is also been found on the Atlantic shores of Europe, Greenland, Northern Russia, Morocco, Madeira and Canary Islands².

Fucus spiralis – it has been mainly found on the shores of the Atlantic coasts of the north America and Europe. It grows about 30 cm in length and is irregularly dichotomous and also attached to the rock by the help of a discoid shape base.

Pelvetia Canaliculata – it is a very common alga found on the rocky shores of Europe. It is mainly found on the Atlantic shores of Europe from Spain to Iceland, which includes Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal and France. It can bear the extreme conditions and needs exposure to the air, if it is submerged for 6 hours or more it will start to decay.

 Corallina officinallis – it is a red seaweed which mainly shores on the mid-littoral and the lower zones of the rocky shores. It can be generally found on and around the rims of the pools formed from the tide. These algae are found on the north Atlantic coast from Morocco to Norway and also from Argentine to Greenland.

Filamentous green algae – it is type of algae which are found on the rocks, or debris. It consist of fine and green colour filaments which form into dense mats. It can grow in any type of water such as pond, lake or stream.

Bibliography

Asnaghi, Valentina, et al. "Colonisation processes and the role of coralline algae in rocky shore community dynamics." Journal of Sea Research 95 (2015): 132-138.

Chappuis, Eglantine, et al. "Vertical zonation is the main distribution pattern of littoral assemblages on rocky shores at a regional scale." Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 147 (2014): 113-122.

Kéfi, Sonia, et al. "Network structure beyond food webs: mapping non?trophic and trophic interactions on Chilean rocky shores." Ecology 96.1 (2015): 291-303.

Thibaut, Thierry, et al. "An ecosystem-based approach to assess the status of Mediterranean algae-dominated shallow rocky reefs." Marine Pollution Bulletin 117.1 (2017): 311-329.