An engaging account of the natural history of rock and boulder-strewn shores around Britain''s coastline. Rocky Shores explores the species, communities and landscape of the narrow strip of land surrounding much of the British Isles. While it may be limited in extent, this habitat is incredibly biodiverse, and this insightful book details all the patterns of marine life that might be encountered on sheltered and exposed shores, from the inhospitable splash zone to the repeatedly submerged lower shore, and everything in between. Comprehensive chapters accompanied by exceptional photographs cover various members of the rocky-shore community in turn: striking lichens that colourfully adorn the rocks; seaweeds that have sustained human settlements for millennia; mysterious and often spectacular worms and their relatives; molluscs with variously configured shells; spiny-skinned echinoderms that move using tube feet; arthropods that range from tiny marine insects to heavy-clawed crabs; and microscopic species that drift around at the mercy of the tides. Rock pools provide pockets of diversity dotted across the shore, while the strandline at the high-tide mark supports a unique assemblage of microbes and invertebrates that attracts a variety of birds and mammals. For anyone with a love of the shore - from the occasional rockpooler to avid naturalists - this book is a must for your collection.

Autorentext

John Archer-Thomson, Julian Cremona

Inhalt

Preface

1 A fascination for the shore
2 Patterns and zones
3 Rock pools
4 Lichens: a primitive cooperative
5 Seaweeds: the banquet that never was
6 Stingers, squirts, sponges, mats and worms:
the weird and the wonderful
7 Molluscs: the mantle of respectability
8 Echinoderms: animals with tube feet
9 Arthropods: animals with jointed limbs
10 Plankton: drifters of the shore
11 Attack from air and sea
12 Nature's giant compost heap
13 Challenges, threats and the future of rocky shores

References and further reading
Abbreviations
Species names
Illustration credits
Index