An exposure scale for marine shores in western Norway

A rocky shore exposure scale, intended primarily for use in the Fensfjord area, Western Norway, has been prepared. This scale is developed from an earlier scale devised by Ballantine for Milford Haven, Wales, making use of species abundance curves along the wave exposure gradient. Independent evidence for the validity of the scale is provided by shell shape variation in Nucella lapillus and by the height of the black lichen zone in the supralittoral fringe. The successive steps in the preparation of the scale are outlined, definitions of the exposure grades are given in tabular form for the restricted set of species analysed numerically and descriptions are provided in an extended form to provide a fuller picture for users of the scale. It is believed that the scale will prove applicable to other rocky shores around the North Sea.

[1]  Alan J. Southward,et al.  The Distribution of Intertidal Organisms Along the Coasts of the English Channel , 1958, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[2]  H. T. Powell.  Studies in the genus Fucus L. I. Fucus distichus L. emend. Powell , 1957, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[3]  Eilif Dahl,et al.  Macrolichens, of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden , 1973 .

[4]  A. Demetropoulos,et al.  Exposure to wave action: Measurements of an important ecological parameter on rocky shores on Anglesey , 1968 .

[5]  J. Heller.  The taxonomy of some British Littorina species, with notes on their reproduction (Mollusca: Prosobranchia) , 1975 .

[6]  R. J. Pankhurst,et al.  Biological Identification with Computers , 1976 .

[7]  H. B. Moore.  The biology of Balanus balanoides. IV. Relation to environmental factors , 1935 .

[8]  Speciation in the Sea , 1962, Nature.

[9]  B. H. Brinkhuis.  The ecology of temperate salt-marsh fucoids. I. Occurrence and distribution of Ascophyllum nodosum ecads , 1976 .

[10]  P. Moore.  Additions to the littoral fauna of Rockall, with a description of Araeolaimus penelope sp.nov. (Nematoda: Axonolaimidae) , 1977, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[11]  G. B. Crapp.  The Distribution and Abundance of Animals and Plants on the Rocky Shores of Bantry Bay , 1973 .

[12]  Dorothy C. Gibb.  The Free-Living Forms of Ascophyllum Nodosum (L.) Le Jol , 1957 .

[13]  B. H. Brinkhuis,et al.  The ecology of temperate salt-marsh fucoids. II. In situ growth of transplanted Ascophyllum nodosum ecads , 1976 .

[14]  R. G. Evans.  The Intertidal Ecology of Selected Localities in the Plymouth Neighbourhood , 1947, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[15]  John R. Lewis,et al.  The ecology of rocky shores , 1964 .

[16]  P. W. James.  A New Check-List of British Lichens , 1965, The Lichenologist.

[17]  Mary Parke,et al.  Check-list of British marine algae-third revision , 1968, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.