Abstract
The zone between the sea and the land is occupied by a diversity of ecosystem types developed over a variety of habitats — dunes, brackish lagoons, intertidal mud and sand flats — presented by the coastal zone. In spite of the difficulties presented by salinity, the inshore marine and estuarine habitats are some of the ‘most naturally fertile in the world’ (Odum 1963). There are several reasons for this:
-
(a)
the rapid circulation of nutrients and food promoted by tidal action;
-
(b)
the trapping of nutrients both physically in mud-derived land and biologically by direct extraction from continually stirred sea water, a process in which both animals and plants participate;
-
(c)
the often more equable local climatic conditions; and
-
(d)
the close contact between stages of the food chain.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References and further reading
Barnes, R. D. 1984. Estuarine biology, 2nd edn. London: Edward Arnold, for Institute of Biology.
Bertness, M. D. and A. M. Ellison 1987. Determinants of pattern in a New England salt marsh plant community. Ecol. Monogr. 57 (2), 129–47.
Chapman, V. J. 1973. Mangrove vegetation. In Proc. Pre-Congr. Conf. of Pacific Sci. Assoc., Bogor, 1971.
Doing, H. 1985. Coastal fore-dune zonation and succession in various parts of the world. Vegetatio 61, 65–75.
Flowers, T. J., M. A. Hajihaghen and N. J. W. Clipson 1986. Halophytes. Q. Rev. Biol 61 (3), 313–37.
Odum, E. P. 1963. Ecology. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Oosting, H. J. and W. D. Billings 1942. Factors affecting vegetational zonation in coastal dunes. Ecology 23, 131–43.
Polunin, O. and M. Walters 1985. A guide to the vegetation of Britain and Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Scholander, P. F. 1968. How mangroves desalinate seawater. Plant Physiol. 21, 251–61.
Scholander, P. F., L. Van Dam and S. I. Scholander 1955. Gas exchange in the roots of mangrove. Am. J. Bot. 42, 92–8.
Semenuik V. 1985. Development of mangrove habitats along ria shorelines in north and north-western tropical Australia. Vegetatio 60, 3–23.
Stephenson, T. A. and A. Stephenson 1949. The universal features of zonation between tide marks on rocky coasts. J. Ecol. 37, 289–305.
Stoddart, D. R. 1980. Mangroves as successional stages. J. Biogeog. 7, 269–84.
Teas, H. J. (ed.) 1983, 1984. Biology and ecology of mangroves, Vols 1 and 2. The Hague: Junk. (These two volumes contain a comprehensive account of this vital vegetation type. Essential reading.)
Walter, H. 1984. Vegetation of the Earth, 3rd edn, O. Muise (transi.). New York: Springer.
Watkinson, A. R. and A. J. Davy 1985. Population biology of salt marsh and sand dune animals. Vegetatio 62, 487–97.
Watkinson, A. R. 1985. On the abundance of plants along an environmental gradient. J. Ecol. 73, 509–78.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 A. S. Collinson
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Collinson, A.S. (1988). The vegetation of estuaries and sea shores. In: Introduction to World Vegetation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-3935-7_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-3935-7_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-04-581031-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-3935-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive