Biodiversity & Conservation

Laminaria hyperborea with dense foliose red seaweeds on exposed infralittoral rock.

IR.EIR.KFaR.LhypR

EIR.LhypR

Image Anon. - Laminaria hyperborea forest with dense foliose red seaweeds on exposed upper infralittoral rock (EIR.LhypR.Ft). Image width ca 3 m in foreground.
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Distribution map

IR.EIR.KFaR.LhypR recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

  • EC_Habitats

Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland

Recorded from exposed coasts in the Shetlands and Orkney, the north east coast of England, the western English Channel, the Isles of Scilly, Lizard peninsula, the Pembrokeshire coast, the Llyn Peninsula, the Isle of Man, the west coast of Scotland and St Kilda. EIR.Lhyp.R is most likely found in Northern Ireland as well (Kain, pers. comm.) although no records were found.

Habitat preferences

Temperature range preferences - 2 °C(winter) to 19 °C(summer).

Water clarity preferences - Very high clarity / Very low turbidity
High clarity / Low turbidity
Medium clarity / Medium turbidity

Limiting Nutrients - Nitrogen (nitrates)
Phosphorus (phosphates)

Other preferences -

Additional information

Van den Hoek (1982) suggested that the distribution of Laminaria hyperborea, and hence its associated biotope, was limited by temperatures between the 2 °C winter isotherm in the north and the 19 °C summer isotherm in the south.

This review can be cited as follows:

Tyler-Walters, H. 2005. Laminaria hyperborea with dense foliose red seaweeds on exposed infralittoral rock.. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 22/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/habitatpreferences.php?habitatid=171&code=1997>