| one publication added to basket [76528] | Comparative studies of beaches
Steele, J.H. (1976). Comparative studies of beaches. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. (B Biol. Sci.) 274: 401-415
In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences. Royal Society: London. ISSN 0962-8436; e-ISSN 1471-2970, more
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| Keywords |
Biological phenomena > Adaptations
Biology > Microbiology
Developmental stages > Larvae > Invertebrate larvae
Ecology
Energy flow
Population characteristics > Biomass
Population dynamics
Programmes > Research programmes
Topographic features > Landforms > Coastal landforms > Beaches
Invertebrata; Pisces [WoRMS]; Vertebrata [WoRMS]
Marine/Coastal |
| Abstract |
Over a period of 6 yr, scientists from Scottish marine labs and universities worked for the winter season with colleagues in India on the ecology of Indian beaches. The intention was to compare the population dynamics with similar studies on west coast Scottish beaches. Microbial, invertebrate and vertebrate fauna were studied, in terms of population distributions and especially, by experimental work, in relation to energy flow. The results show that, for the microbial and invertebrate fauna, the rates of energy flow are very much greater on the Indian than on the Scottish beaches. Thus population biomass, which is similar for the 2 areas, is a poor indicator of the dynamics. For the fish populations, metabolic rates are very similar, indicating almost complete compensation to the difference in temps. These differences between parts of the ecosystem lead to speculations about the factors determining adaptation in the different environments. |
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