Littoral rock

Littoral rock includes habitats of bedrock, boulders and cobbles which occur in the intertidal zone (the area of the shore between high and low tides) and the splash zone. The upper limit is marked by the top of the lichen zone and the lower limit by the top of the laminarian kelp zone. There are many physical variables affecting rocky shore communiti es - wave exposure, salinity, temperature and the diurnal emersion and immersion of the shore. Wave exposure is most commonly used to characterise littoral rock, from extremely exposed on the open coast to extremely sheltered in enclosed inlets. Exposed shores tend to support faunal-dominated communities of barnacles and mussels and some robust seaweeds. Sheltered shores are most notable for their dense cover of fucoid seaweeds, with distinctive zones occurring down the shore. In between these extremes of wave exposure, on moderately exposed shores, mosaics of seaweeds and barnacles are more typical.$$$$$$The vertical continuation of littoral rock as sea cliffs, is considered part of the coastal habitat section (N)

Código Eunis 2021: MA1