Chaffey, N and Brodie, J (2011) Seaweeds of Somerset: assessing changes in seaweed floras. In: British Phycological Society 59th Winter Meeting, 5 -7 January 2011, Cardiff Thistle Hotel, Cardiff.
Abstract
One of the problems of determining whether and how seaweed floras are changing in response to climate change is the lack of historical data which can be compared with current observations. Detailed seaweed surveys from sites along the Bristol Channel, southwestern England, have been undertaken on the Isles of Scilly from 27 years ago, Lundy Island, Devon from c. 60 and 40 years ago, and from intertidal sites along the Severn Estuary in Somerset from c. 30 years ago. Recent studies surveying the seaweeds of Isles of Scilly (2010), Lundy (2008) and of Somerset (2008-20010), have provided data which can be used to compare with these earlier studies. Whilst the majority of species previously recorded have been re-found at all sites, the most noticeable change is the appearance of non-native algal species on the Isles of Scilly and Lundy which were not recorded 27 and 60 years ago. Changes in the Somerset seaweed flora are less obvious, and non-native species such as Sargassum muticum have not been recorded. However, the presence of c. 100 species in the Severn Estuary makes the Somerset coast important for its seaweed flora in the UK context. The discovery of species not recorded previously and new species in the UK seaweed flora probably reflects a better taxonomic understanding of critical taxa. In this talk I will review the results of these UK studies and consider them in the broader context of change.
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Q Science > QK Botany |
| Divisions: | School of Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Sep 2014 16:23 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Aug 2021 09:38 |
| URI / Page ID: | https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/4506 |
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