Various sections of the coast of Great Britain

Vertical spatial coordinates; Horizontal spatial co-ordinates; Precipitation and evaporation; Fish morphology, age and physiology; Fish taxonomy-related abundance per unit area of the bed; Fish taxonomy-related counts; Habitat characterisation; Habitat extent; Insect and earthworm taxonomy-related abundance per unit area of the bed; Vertical velocity of the water column (currents); Sediment grain size parameters; Salinity of the water column; Horizontal velocity of the water column (currents); Zoobenthos taxonomic abundance; Zoobenthos taxonomy-related counts; Sea level; Sediment water content, porosity and surface area; Coastal geomorphology; Date and time; Fauna abundance per unit area of the bed

Sea level recorders; current meters; pelagic trawl nets; benthos samplers; manual biota samplers; precipitation samplers

During the period 1975 to 1980 the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) commissioned, from the Scottish Marine Biological Association (SMBA) and the Marine Biological Association (MBA), a survey of the littoral zone of the coast of Great Britain. During the time of the contract, surveys were carried out and reports produced on the following stretches of coast: 1. Western Argyll (Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point) 2. Devon and Cornwall 3. Outer Hebrides 4. South west Wales (West Glamorgan, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire) 5. Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 6. North west Scotland (Ardnamurchan Point to Cape Wrath) 7. Moray Firth (Duncansby Head to Peterhead) In addition, there are two final reports, summarising the results for the sediment and rocky shores respectively. All these reports are held in the MBA library; the copyright remains the property of the NCC. An important part of the work was the entry of the species and habitat data onto computer. The data are held on files of two kinds - SITES files and SPECIES files. The SITES files include the following information: place name, location, visit date, tide level, type of coast, rock type, biota, slope of shore, offshore features, coastal heights, tidal range, currents, annual rainfall, salinity, shore usage, description of shore, ease of access. The SPECIES files include the following: place name, location, date of visit, major taxonomic group, genus, species and variety, abundance.

Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Citadel Hill
Plymouth
Devon
PL1 2PB
United Kingdom