10 Spanish Atlantic Coasts
F. X. NIELLl, C. FERNANDEZ\ F. 1. FIGUEROAI, F. G. FIGUEIRAS\ J. M. FUENTESS,
J.1. PEREZ-LLORENS 6 , M. J. GARCIA-SANCHEZ 2 , I. HERNANDEz 6 ,
J. A. FERNANDEZ 2 , M. ESPEJo 8 , J. BUELA 7 , M. C. GARCIA-JIMENEZ I,
V. CLAVERO l , and C. JIMENEZl
10.1 Introduction
Spanish Atlantic coasts extend over 1000 km between 36°01' N to 43°40'
Nand 01 °40' W to 09°20' W in the north and from 05°30' to 07°20' Win
the south. They belong biogeographically to the Lusitanian province of
the Mediterranean-Atlantic European region (van den Hoek and Donze
1967; van den Hoek 1975). The algal flora of this coast is similar to that
of the coast extending from southern Ireland and Great Britain to the Rio
de Oro in the northwestern coast of Africa.
The Canary Islands must be considered part of an unique Macaronesian
region together with the Azores, Sauvages, Madeira and Cabo Verde archipelagos (Gil-Rodriguez and Wilpret 1980). Van den Hoek (1975) included
these islands, in a different province, into the same Mediterranean-Atlantic
region in which the peninsular waters are included. The coasts of these
islands are of volcanic origin, practically lacking a littoral platform, and
are submitted to strong hydrodynamic forces. For these reasons, proliferation of green algae should be unexpected along these open coasts, in
which the sea shore bottom is very steep. Accumulations of seaweeds of
the Ulva type are not frequent, but populations of Ulvaceae with low
biomass can be found in restricted areas (Afonso et al. 1979).
Along the peninsular coast, three regions can be delimited by their
hydrographic and biogeographic features (Fig. 10.1).
'Department of Ecology, University of Malaga, Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Malaga, Spain
2Department of Plant Physiology, University of Malaga, 29071 Malaga, Spain
3Department of Ecology, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
4Instituto de Ciencias Marinas, Vigo, Spain
SCentro de Investigaciones Marisqueras de Galicia, Vilaxoan, Pontevedra, Spain
6Department of Ecology, University of Cadiz, Spain
7ENCE. Lourizan, Pontevedra, Spain
8Conselleria de Pesca, Autonomic Government of Galicia, Santiago, Spain
Ecological Studies, Vol. 123
Schramm/Nienhuis (eds) Marine Benthic Vegetation
© Springer-Vedag Berlin Heidelberg 1996
F. X. NIELLl, C. FERNANDEZ\ F. 1. FIGUEROAI, F. G. FIGUEIRAS\ J. M. FUENTESS,
J.1. PEREZ-LLORENS 6 , M. J. GARCIA-SANCHEZ 2 , I. HERNANDEz 6 ,
J. A. FERNANDEZ 2 , M. ESPEJo 8 , J. BUELA 7 , M. C. GARCIA-JIMENEZ I,
V. CLAVERO l , and C. JIMENEZl
10.1 Introduction
Spanish Atlantic coasts extend over 1000 km between 36°01' N to 43°40'
Nand 01 °40' W to 09°20' W in the north and from 05°30' to 07°20' Win
the south. They belong biogeographically to the Lusitanian province of
the Mediterranean-Atlantic European region (van den Hoek and Donze
1967; van den Hoek 1975). The algal flora of this coast is similar to that
of the coast extending from southern Ireland and Great Britain to the Rio
de Oro in the northwestern coast of Africa.
The Canary Islands must be considered part of an unique Macaronesian
region together with the Azores, Sauvages, Madeira and Cabo Verde archipelagos (Gil-Rodriguez and Wilpret 1980). Van den Hoek (1975) included
these islands, in a different province, into the same Mediterranean-Atlantic
region in which the peninsular waters are included. The coasts of these
islands are of volcanic origin, practically lacking a littoral platform, and
are submitted to strong hydrodynamic forces. For these reasons, proliferation of green algae should be unexpected along these open coasts, in
which the sea shore bottom is very steep. Accumulations of seaweeds of
the Ulva type are not frequent, but populations of Ulvaceae with low
biomass can be found in restricted areas (Afonso et al. 1979).
Along the peninsular coast, three regions can be delimited by their
hydrographic and biogeographic features (Fig. 10.1).
'Department of Ecology, University of Malaga, Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Malaga, Spain
2Department of Plant Physiology, University of Malaga, 29071 Malaga, Spain
3Department of Ecology, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
4Instituto de Ciencias Marinas, Vigo, Spain
SCentro de Investigaciones Marisqueras de Galicia, Vilaxoan, Pontevedra, Spain
6Department of Ecology, University of Cadiz, Spain
7ENCE. Lourizan, Pontevedra, Spain
8Conselleria de Pesca, Autonomic Government of Galicia, Santiago, Spain
Ecological Studies, Vol. 123
Schramm/Nienhuis (eds) Marine Benthic Vegetation
© Springer-Vedag Berlin Heidelberg 1996