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Concept: [Fucus serratus] and large [Mytilus edulis] on variable salinity lower eulittoral rock in the eunishabitats vocabulary

Concept URI http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/eunishabitats/A1.326
Preferred label [Fucus serratus] and large [Mytilus edulis] on variable salinity lower eulittoral rock
Definition Areas of very sheltered lower eulittoral rock or mixed substrata subject to variable salinity, which support an impoverished community dominated by the wrack [Fucus serratus]. The hydroid [Dynamena pumila] can form colonies on the [F. serratus] and clumps of large individuals of the mussel [Mytilus edulis] may be present on the bedrock beneath. The canopy of [F. serratus] is not usually as dense as in the other [F. serratus] dominated biotopes due the presence of the wracks [Ascophyllum nodosum] and [Fucus vesiculosus], which are better adapted to the variable salinity. A few red seaweeds are present which includes the species [Mastocarpus stellatus], [Chondrus crispus] and coralline crusts. Underneath the canopy is a sparse fauna consisting of barnacles [Semibalanus balanoides, Balanus crenatus] and [Elminius modestus], the limpet [Patella vulgata] or the occasional presence of the winkles [Littorina obtusata] and [Littorina mariae] and the crab [Carcinus maenas]. The tube-forming polychaetes [Pomatoceros triqueter] or spirorbid polychaetes can be found. In areas (such as the Scottish sea lochs) where variable salinity water passes through tide-swept narrows and the associated biota is impoverished such records should be classified as FserVS rather than FserT. Situation: This biotope may be found below the variable salinity [F. vesiculosus] dominated biotope or [A. nodosum] dominated biotope (AscVS; FvesVS), particularly in Scottish sea lochs. FserVS can be found above the biotopes dominated by the kelp [Laminaria saccharina] (LsacVS.Psa; LsacVS.Phy). Temporal variation: The canopy of [F. serratus] is not as dense as in the other [F. serratus] dominated biotopes due the presence of the wracks [A. nodosum] and [F. vesiculosus], which are better adapted to the variable salinity. They will therefore out-compete [F. serratus] on the lower shore and an ecological shift can occur (In the Baltic Sea [F. vesiculosus] is the dominant sublittoral brown seaweed). Due to the variable or low salinity conditions the individual red seaweeds may not be as large as specimens found in fully marine conditions and they can lack sexually reproductive structures.
Notation A1.326
Status Valid
Status Modified 2014-01-31
Accepted Date 2014-01-31
Not Accepted Date
Has broader
Has exact match