Identity:

Dense blankets of fucoid seaweeds dominating sheltered to extremely sheltered rocky shores and/or in locally sheltered patches on exposed to moderately exposed rocky shores. Typically, the wrack Pelvetia canaliculata (A1.311) occurs on the upper shore, with the wrack Fucus spiralis (A1.312) below. The middle shore is dominated by vast areas of the wrack Ascophyllum nodosum or the wrack Fucus vesiculosus (A1.313, A1.314) or a mixture of both. The wrack Fucus serratus covers lower shore bedrock and boulders (A1.315). Sheltered to very sheltered mixed substrata (pebbles and cobbles overlying muddy sand and gravel) shores can support fucoid communities (A1.3122; A1.3132; A1.3142; A1.3152). Situation: Sheltered shores (i.e. estuaries and sea lochs) below the lichen dominated zone and above the kelp dominated zone in the sublittoral or sheltered patches on more wave exposed shores.