the bottom; the oxygen balance is upset and trace elements can have a direct and
poisonous effect; oil drifts on the water's surface and affects the tidal areas in particular; and plant nutrients are abundantly present in effluents. The effect does not
need to be immediate either. It can happen circuitously: the flora of microscopically
small algae which settle in on larger algae may be fostered; or parasite attacks may be
facilitated.
However, up to now, the plant population along open coastal areas of England have
not changed. This even applies to the 48-km-long North Sea coast of Durham where
the Tyne, Wear, and Tees Rivers, which are heavily polluted by effluents, discharge
into the sea. The first collecting of algae goes back to the years 1793 and 1864,
before industrialization reached its high point. At that time, 48 species of algae were
labeled as common; today, out of 128 species known in all, 53 are so labeled. Furce/laria fastigiata, Lomentaria clavellosa, Plocamium coccineum, Polysiphonia elongata,
Desmarestia aculeata, and Pelvetia canaliculata were previously common; today they
are absent; Asperococcus fistulosus and Spongomorpha aeruginosa are rare today.
Thus, the spectrum of species has shifted somewhat, but it is not yet known for sure
whether or not effluent flows played a role in this shift or whether it has to do with
natural fluctuations that transpire in the course of relatively long periods (Edwards
1975). It is good to know that the decrease in species diversity, that the change from
sensitive to pollution-resistant species is confined to polluted estuaries and to the
vicinity of coastal cities, and still is not evident on the open North Sea shore.
After the dying off of sensitive organisms, an affected coast does not remain a desert,
rather robust algae are fostered, and their population is, as a rule, richer in biomass
and productivity than the indigenous vegetation. Phytoplankton is also thicker near
the points of effluent entry and even marine aminals profit from the abundance of
food (Fig. 4); the shell duck (Bucephala clangula) and the mute swan (Cygnus olor)
from year to year winter over in greater numbers right at the Tay Estuary effluent
pipes (Pounder 1974). There is a similar development on dry land where the natural
vegetation cover is continually changing. Wherever man dominates, we encounter
roadside flora. The ecosystem here has been developed in such a way that a few
species dominate.
The coasts of the world's continents and islands together add up to approximately
1,5 to 2 million km, depending how precisely the curves in the coastline are followed.
If we take the mean width of a coastal region to be around 70 m, it then turns out
that coasts account for only 0.1 % of the land, 0.05% of the oceans or 0.03% of the
total globe. Another calculation (Table 6) results in the statement that all regions of
benthic algae, coral reefs, and the estuaries together represent only about 0.4% of the
globe. Exactly the coastal areas, on the other hand, are the areas where human settlements are the densest, and where urbanization is increasing (Gerlach 1980). Animal
and plant life is endangered everywhere there are human settlements. In protected
shallow zones, aquaculture is fostered, fish ponds are constructed, and oysters are
raised in the shallows. Swimming and beach activity is expanding along sandy beaches.
Divers frequent rocky coasts and coral reefs. A piece of coral which took many years
to become large and conspicuous is easily broken. In the Mediterranean, the Carribbean, and other places where spear fishing has not been regulated, large fish have
become rare sight for skindivers. The Philippine Islands alone export 3-30 million
34
poisonous effect; oil drifts on the water's surface and affects the tidal areas in particular; and plant nutrients are abundantly present in effluents. The effect does not
need to be immediate either. It can happen circuitously: the flora of microscopically
small algae which settle in on larger algae may be fostered; or parasite attacks may be
facilitated.
However, up to now, the plant population along open coastal areas of England have
not changed. This even applies to the 48-km-long North Sea coast of Durham where
the Tyne, Wear, and Tees Rivers, which are heavily polluted by effluents, discharge
into the sea. The first collecting of algae goes back to the years 1793 and 1864,
before industrialization reached its high point. At that time, 48 species of algae were
labeled as common; today, out of 128 species known in all, 53 are so labeled. Furce/laria fastigiata, Lomentaria clavellosa, Plocamium coccineum, Polysiphonia elongata,
Desmarestia aculeata, and Pelvetia canaliculata were previously common; today they
are absent; Asperococcus fistulosus and Spongomorpha aeruginosa are rare today.
Thus, the spectrum of species has shifted somewhat, but it is not yet known for sure
whether or not effluent flows played a role in this shift or whether it has to do with
natural fluctuations that transpire in the course of relatively long periods (Edwards
1975). It is good to know that the decrease in species diversity, that the change from
sensitive to pollution-resistant species is confined to polluted estuaries and to the
vicinity of coastal cities, and still is not evident on the open North Sea shore.
After the dying off of sensitive organisms, an affected coast does not remain a desert,
rather robust algae are fostered, and their population is, as a rule, richer in biomass
and productivity than the indigenous vegetation. Phytoplankton is also thicker near
the points of effluent entry and even marine aminals profit from the abundance of
food (Fig. 4); the shell duck (Bucephala clangula) and the mute swan (Cygnus olor)
from year to year winter over in greater numbers right at the Tay Estuary effluent
pipes (Pounder 1974). There is a similar development on dry land where the natural
vegetation cover is continually changing. Wherever man dominates, we encounter
roadside flora. The ecosystem here has been developed in such a way that a few
species dominate.
The coasts of the world's continents and islands together add up to approximately
1,5 to 2 million km, depending how precisely the curves in the coastline are followed.
If we take the mean width of a coastal region to be around 70 m, it then turns out
that coasts account for only 0.1 % of the land, 0.05% of the oceans or 0.03% of the
total globe. Another calculation (Table 6) results in the statement that all regions of
benthic algae, coral reefs, and the estuaries together represent only about 0.4% of the
globe. Exactly the coastal areas, on the other hand, are the areas where human settlements are the densest, and where urbanization is increasing (Gerlach 1980). Animal
and plant life is endangered everywhere there are human settlements. In protected
shallow zones, aquaculture is fostered, fish ponds are constructed, and oysters are
raised in the shallows. Swimming and beach activity is expanding along sandy beaches.
Divers frequent rocky coasts and coral reefs. A piece of coral which took many years
to become large and conspicuous is easily broken. In the Mediterranean, the Carribbean, and other places where spear fishing has not been regulated, large fish have
become rare sight for skindivers. The Philippine Islands alone export 3-30 million
34