Shallow Seas (collins New Naturalist Library)
by Peter J. Hayward /
2016 / English / EPUB
89.2 MB Download
Shallow Seas are the most biologically rich and productive areas of
the world ocean. This latest New Naturalist volume provides a
natural history of this environment and its biological communities.
The margins of the continents, especially broad in the North
Atlantic region, are drowned by shallow seas, creating a sea floor
environment which is part of the wider and deepening benthic realm
- the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such
as an ocean or a lake, including the sediment surface and some
sub-surface layers. These 'shelf seas' are the most biologically
rich and productive areas of the world ocean. In his latest New
Naturalist volume, Peter Hayward addresses some aspects of the
natural history of the benthic environment of the shelf seas of
northwest Europe and its biological communities. Away from rocky
coastlines the seafloor is rather flat, often muddy, beneath turbid
water with low or no visibility. Benthic faunas mostly live within
the sediment of the seafloor, or are sparsely and patchily
distributed upon it, and if at all motile are likely to withdraw
into burrows or move quickly away on disturbance. Yet, dredges and
grabs reveal an often extraordinary diversity and density of
animals, suggestive of complex interacting communities. This is not
a textbook of marine benthic ecology, nor is it a comprehensive
review of the benthic communities of the northwest European shelf
seas. Rather, it describes the natural history of some benthic
habitats and associations characteristic of our region.
Shallow Seas are the most biologically rich and productive areas of
the world ocean. This latest New Naturalist volume provides a
natural history of this environment and its biological communities.
The margins of the continents, especially broad in the North
Atlantic region, are drowned by shallow seas, creating a sea floor
environment which is part of the wider and deepening benthic realm
- the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such
as an ocean or a lake, including the sediment surface and some
sub-surface layers. These 'shelf seas' are the most biologically
rich and productive areas of the world ocean. In his latest New
Naturalist volume, Peter Hayward addresses some aspects of the
natural history of the benthic environment of the shelf seas of
northwest Europe and its biological communities. Away from rocky
coastlines the seafloor is rather flat, often muddy, beneath turbid
water with low or no visibility. Benthic faunas mostly live within
the sediment of the seafloor, or are sparsely and patchily
distributed upon it, and if at all motile are likely to withdraw
into burrows or move quickly away on disturbance. Yet, dredges and
grabs reveal an often extraordinary diversity and density of
animals, suggestive of complex interacting communities. This is not
a textbook of marine benthic ecology, nor is it a comprehensive
review of the benthic communities of the northwest European shelf
seas. Rather, it describes the natural history of some benthic
habitats and associations characteristic of our region.
