EUNIS habitat classification 2012 amended 2019 > A - Marine habitats > A1 - Littoral rock and other hard substrata > A1.3 - Low energy littoral rock > A1.32 - Fucoids in variable salinity > A1.325 - Ascophyllum nodosum ecad. mackaii beds on extremely sheltered mid eulittoral mixed substrata

Ascophyllum nodosum ecad. mackaii beds on extremely sheltered mid eulittoral mixed substrata

English name: Ascophyllum nodosum ecad. mackaii beds on extremely sheltered mid eulittoral mixed substrata

Quick facts

EUNIS habitat type code A1.325

Description (English)

Extremely sheltered mid shore mixed substrata, usually subject to variable salinity due to freshwater runoff, which support beds of the non-attached growth form of the wrack Ascophyllum nodosum ecad mackaii. Cobbles and other hard substrata are often characterised by the normal form of A. nodosum with the red seaweed Polysiphonia lanosa growing as an epiphyte and other fucoids such as Fucus vesiculosus. The loose mats of A. nodosum ecad mackaii provide a cryptic and humid habitat for mobile species including gammarids, the crab Carcinus maenas and the winkles Littorina littorea, Littorina obtusata and Littorina saxatilis. The barnacle Semibalanus balanoides and the mussel Mytilus edulis are commonly attached to pebbles and cobbles on the sediment, while the infauna may contain the polychaetes Arenicola marina and Lanice conchilega. NB: This biotope is a BAP-habitat.
Situation: Occurs in extremely sheltered conditions at the heads of Scottish sea lochs (but is also known from other sheltered areas).
Temporal variation: A. nodosum ecad mackaii develops initially from broken fragments of A. nodosum and can in sheltered conditions grow in unattached, often bladderless, wig-shaped masses in the mid to upper tide zone. Note: "Ecad" has no official status in International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, but the terminology has been applied to the free-living form of A. nodosum since the beginning of the 19th century. The term was first employed by Clements (1905) to denote a form which results from adaptation or a change in morphology due to a new habitat - phenotypic variation.

Source: EUNIS habitat classification

Vegetation types

Relation to vegetation types (syntaxa)

Not available

Species mentioned in habitat description

Algae Fucus vesiculosus
Invertebrates Arenicola marina
Invertebrates Carcinus maenas
Invertebrates Lanice conchilega
Invertebrates Mytilus edulis
Species scientific name English common name Species group
Fucus vesiculosus Algae
Arenicola marina Invertebrates
Carcinus maenas Invertebrates
Lanice conchilega Invertebrates
Mytilus edulis Invertebrates

Other classifications

Classification Code Habitat type name Relationship type
Marine Habitat Classification Britain/Ireland 0405 LR.LLR.FVS.Ascmac <I>Ascophyllum nodosum</I> ecad <I>mackaii</I> beds on extremely sheltered mid eulittoral mixed substrata source
CORINE Land Cover 4.2.3. Intertidal flats n/a
For relation to plant communities (syntaxa), see Vegetation types

History

Classification Code Habitat type name Relationship type
EUNIS Habitat Classification 200410 A1.325 Ascophyllum nodosum ecad. mackaii beds on extremely sheltered mid eulittoral mixed substrata same
EUNIS Habitat Classification 200308 A1.3231 Ascophyllum nodosum ecad. mackaii beds on extremely sheltered mid eulittoral mixed substrata same
EUNIS Habitat Classification 200202 A1.3231 Ascophyllum nodosum ecad. mackaii beds on extremely sheltered mid eulittoral mixed substrata same
EUNIS Habitat Classification 199910 A1.3231 Ascophyllum nodosum ecad. mackaii beds on extremely sheltered mid eulittoral mixed substrata same
MNCR BioMar 97.06 (Britain & Ireland) SLR.FX.AscX.mac Ascophyllum nodosum ecad. mackaii beds on extremely sheltered mid eulittoral mixed substrata same
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