This unique, concise and beautifully-illustrated guide allows students to identify over 650 of the common, widespread animals and seaweeds of the shore. User-friendly dichotomous keys are supported by details of diagnostic features and biology of each species. Now enhanced with 32 pages of colour, this much acclaimed guide is invaluable to students of marine biology at any level. Questions such as how does the species reproduce? What is its life-cycle? How does it feed? are answered in the notes accompanying each species to give a fascinating insight into the diversity and complexity of life on the shore. The text is supported by an extensive glossary of scientific terms and a comprehensive bibliography is included to aid further study. The third edition builds on the excellent reviews of earlier editions and will continue to appeal to a wide readership, including students, teachers and naturalists.

The broad definition of ecology is the study of organisms in relation to their surroundings. This book presents marine ecology as a coherent science, providing undergraduate students with an essential foundation of knowledge in the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems. The fourth edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to meet the needs of today's courses. A new chapter Human impact on the marine environment focuses on issues such as marine pollution, global warming, ocean management, marine nature reserves, and the effects of fisheries and aquaculture. New material has also been added on deep-sea hydrothermal vents and coral reefs, features such as El Nino, and ocean processes including the microbial loop, dissolved organic matter (DOM), and dimethyl sulphide (DMS). - A highly accessible survey for undergraduate students - A classic text completely revised and updated by a new author - A new chapter covers the topical area of human impacts on the marine environment

This exhaustive reference provides rapid identification of all but the rarest of the marine animals found on the sea shores and shallow sublittoral zones of North-West Europe. Searching is made possible by the provision of simple dichotomous keys and many drawings and illustrations.

This authoritative guide enables accurate identification of the common components of the inshore benthic invertebrates of the British Isles and adjacent European coasts, as well as a substantial proportion of fish species. This new edition builds upon the strengths of the earlier work and is thoroughly revised throughout to incorporate advances in both the taxonomy and ecology of the organisms concerned.

An engaging account of the natural history of rock and boulder-strewn shores around Britain's coastline. Rocky Shores explores the species, communities and landscape of the narrow strip of land surrounding much of the British Isles. While it may be limited in extent, this habitat is incredibly biodiverse, and this insightful book details all the patterns of marine life that might be encountered on sheltered and exposed shores, from the inhospitable splash zone to the repeatedly submerged lower shore, and everything in between. Comprehensive chapters accompanied by exceptional photographs cover various members of the rocky-shore community in turn: striking lichens that colourfully adorn the rocks; seaweeds that have sustained human settlements for millennia; mysterious and often spectacular worms and their relatives; molluscs with variously configured shells; spiny-skinned echinoderms that move using tube feet; arthropods that range from tiny marine insects to heavy-clawed crabs; and microscopic species that drift around at the mercy of the tides. Rock pools provide pockets of diversity dotted across the shore, while the strandline at the high-tide mark supports a unique assemblage of microbes and invertebrates that attracts a variety of birds and mammals. For anyone with a love of the shore – from the occasional rockpooler to avid naturalists – this book is a must for your collection.