Rock pooling destination: Land’s End Peninsula,
England, 2012
The bay
experiences a dynamic regime, alternating between periods of erosion and deposition.
The underlying substrate is boulders, however, variable amounts of sand may be deposited
on top, sourced from the sand bar situated offshore. The communities encountered
reflect the alternation between these regimes.
At the
time of visitation the beach was mainly sand with boulders exposed in the
region of the river and amongst out cropping bedrock in the mid to lower shore.
The
highest abundances of organism are encountered on the most persistent substrate,
which is the hard substrate that does not experience sand deposition, mainly
the steep sloping bedrock that forms the base of the cliff and represents the upper
shore. This environment is dominated by barnacles, with limpets, periwinkles,
whelks and the coral weed Corallina
officnalis all of which are characteristic of a high energy regime environment.
The lower
shore is more characteristic of a moderate energy regime with focuids and the red
seaweed Mastocarpus stellatus
covering boulders and bedrock, additionally Rhodothamniella
floridula is present where sand scours the boulders.
The hard
substrate of the upper shore can broadly be characterised under the habitat
classification: LR.HLR.MusB
(Mussel and/or barnacle communities) and the hard substrate of the mid and
lower shore can be broadly characterised under the habitat classification: LR.MLR.BF
(Barnacles and fucoids on moderately exposed shores); whilst the sand can be
characterised as LS.LSa (Sublittoral sand).
Below are photographs of some of the organisms
encountered
whilst rock pooling in this habitat.
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