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Contents:

1 - Introducing the seashore; 2 - Living on the seashore; 3 - Life on the seashore; 4 - Rocky seashores; 5 - Seaweeds; 6 - Sandy seashores; 7 - Seashore fishes; 8 - The changing seashore.

Review:

This is part of the new editions in the "New Naturalist' series: a set of texts aimed at British natural history. Those who remember the earlier books will recall the clarity of ideas and the way they looked at the subject in a more holistic than academic way. This is not to say that their data were any the lesser: they remained for years a staple source in environmental and ecological education. The new set has, therefore, quite a reputation to live up to. This is acknowledged explicitly by Hayward who notes the work carried out by Yonge. However, research has grown considerably in this area and there is a need to update the work. We start with a brief opening chapter which defines thge seashore and traces something of the history of its study. The next chapter looks at the physical environment. The aim here is not to quote large volumes of data but to point out the key concepts that affect seashores (leaving the reader to find data for their own area). Chapter three, the largest part of the text, examines seashore animal life. 5 groups are described: sponges, worms, crustacea, molluscs and sea urchins. Each group is examined in terms of biology and ecology: numerous line drawings give a range of examples of key species. Chapter four turns to rocky seashores. We start with an examination of zonation and then move on to descriptions of animal groups until finally, we look at rock pools. Up to this point the majority of the work has focussed on animals. However, chapter five looks at the range of seaweeds we are likely to find around the coast. Sandy seashores are the next areas to be described with a focus on living in such a potentially mobile environment. The author returns to species with chapter eight that outlines the main fish species found in intertidal situations. A final chapter examines human impact on the coastal area.

This books keeps very much to the style of the first series. It's focus is to tell us something about the natural history of the area rather than provide a detailed scientific examination of an ecosystem. The text reads very much like a walk through the area with an expert - more about the sense of what's happening than the hard data. As such this book is a welcome change from the more narrowly focussed texts we see today. It's something that you can pick up and read and get a sense of what is happening. For those with a more limited scientific background it's an ideal place to start. Now that a few texts have been published in this series its possible to suggest that it will keep up the quality of the originals and therefore be a valuable addition to the library shelves.