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The coastline
Volume9/Number
Z/February
1978
and useful data can be obtained via a toxicological approach at the physiological-biochemical level. Toxicology is well advanced as a scientific discipline and its purpose is to provide data on the toxicity of materials as well as knowledge on the mechanism of their action so that reasonable predictions can be made of their hazard or impact. For a toxicological perspective, petroleum hydrocarbon dosages in the marine environment should be considered in relation to other hydrocarbon sources (probably combustion is more important) and the possibility for interaction with other pollutants (e.g. lipophilic biocides) is worthy of some attention. There have been some studies in petroleum hydrocarbon toxicology where findings have been of generalized significance and some examples which warrant further
The Coastline The Coastline, edited by R. S. K. Barnes. John Wiley & Sons, London (1977). xii + 356 pp. Price f 12.50. The narrow strip where the sea meets the land may be so familiar that it is rather taken for granted, but collectively it is the most dramatic and varied environment on this planet. Within the space of a few metres there is as much ecological variety on the shore as exists from the bottom of a tropical valley to the peak of the highest mountain, or from the poles to the equator on land. Marine biologists tend to focus attention on that section of the coast which is periodically covered by the sea, but the sea’s influence is felt on a wider area and the maritime strip of land behind the shore is equally dominated by it. Particularly in a planning context the line on the map marking the upper tidal level has much less relevance than biologists usually believe. Coastal land-based developments can have a profound local effect on erosion or sedimentation or can substantially modify the input from terrestrial sources into coastal waters. In all cases this is accompanied by related biological change. This book is unusual and valuable because, as its’title suggests, it does not stop short at high watermark but deals with the whole ecological complex of the coast-the terrestrial and the marine dominated parts of it. Each chapter is contributed by a different European authority on his subject, but the editor has done his job well and the result is a coherent book with a consistent style and approach throughout, and not a compendium of quite independent articles. Each ecosystem is accorded a separate chapter. Aquatic environments are dealt with under the headings of sandy, muddy, shingle and rocky foreshores, lagoons, salt marshes and estuaries, and terrestrial environments under the headings of sand-dunes, shingle, earth cliffs, rocky cliffs, reclaimed land and the submaritime fringe. There is an introductory chapter dealing primarily with physical factors determining the nature of the coastal
investigation include (a) the relation between hydrocarbon detoxification and aquatic organism tumorigenesis (b) the role of hydrocarbon stress in fish disease susceptibility (c) the interaction of lipophilic biocides with hydrocarbon degrading enzymes and (d) the establishment of dose effect levels for pathological changes which have been noted in marine animals after chronic hydrocarbon exposures.
Research and Resources Services, Fisheries and Marine Service, FisheriesandEnvironment Canada, 3 Water Street, St. John’s, Newfoundland, AIC IAI.
J. F: PAYNE
environment and human impacts on it, and a final chapter dealing with management of the coastal environment. This final chapter is restricted to management from the point of view of nature conservation and ignores the wider and more difficult issues of management of the coastal resource in the interest of all the activities which are part of an industrial society and which somehow or another have to be reconciled. However, many of the impacts of coastal development on particular coastal environments are discussed elsewhere in the book. As the blurb on the cover says, the orientation of the book is towards management practices which maintain the environment in its natural state. We shall probably continue to need harbours and power stations in the foreseeable future, and oil refineries for two or three more decades, and many developments of this kind must be or preferably are situated on the coast. Inevitably they cause some, sometimes major environmental change and the notion that everything can remain in a natural state (whatever that may mean) is either simplistic or raises some very complicated issues. It is not really the purpose of this book to chase that particular hare, and it deals more than adequately with situations in which human activities can be arranged in such a way as to have miniscule environmental impact and points up the critical features of marine and maritime environments, which must not be damaged if major environmental change is to be avoided. Within the bounds and with the objectives set by the editor in his introductory chapter, this book succeeds admirably. It is comprehensive, authoritative, well written and well produced. It has a good bibliography and a good index. The price is not exorbitant and the book should have a wide readership among senior undergraduates, conservationists and, one might hope, those concerned with the management of coastal resources. All will benefit from reading it and will have it on, and off, their bookshelves for some years. Knowledge will accumulate and details will change, but the general principles of how marine and maritime ecosystems function are well known, they are clearly enunciated in this book and they are unlikely to be changed very rapidly. R. B. CLARK 55
Z/February
1978
and useful data can be obtained via a toxicological approach at the physiological-biochemical level. Toxicology is well advanced as a scientific discipline and its purpose is to provide data on the toxicity of materials as well as knowledge on the mechanism of their action so that reasonable predictions can be made of their hazard or impact. For a toxicological perspective, petroleum hydrocarbon dosages in the marine environment should be considered in relation to other hydrocarbon sources (probably combustion is more important) and the possibility for interaction with other pollutants (e.g. lipophilic biocides) is worthy of some attention. There have been some studies in petroleum hydrocarbon toxicology where findings have been of generalized significance and some examples which warrant further
The Coastline The Coastline, edited by R. S. K. Barnes. John Wiley & Sons, London (1977). xii + 356 pp. Price f 12.50. The narrow strip where the sea meets the land may be so familiar that it is rather taken for granted, but collectively it is the most dramatic and varied environment on this planet. Within the space of a few metres there is as much ecological variety on the shore as exists from the bottom of a tropical valley to the peak of the highest mountain, or from the poles to the equator on land. Marine biologists tend to focus attention on that section of the coast which is periodically covered by the sea, but the sea’s influence is felt on a wider area and the maritime strip of land behind the shore is equally dominated by it. Particularly in a planning context the line on the map marking the upper tidal level has much less relevance than biologists usually believe. Coastal land-based developments can have a profound local effect on erosion or sedimentation or can substantially modify the input from terrestrial sources into coastal waters. In all cases this is accompanied by related biological change. This book is unusual and valuable because, as its’title suggests, it does not stop short at high watermark but deals with the whole ecological complex of the coast-the terrestrial and the marine dominated parts of it. Each chapter is contributed by a different European authority on his subject, but the editor has done his job well and the result is a coherent book with a consistent style and approach throughout, and not a compendium of quite independent articles. Each ecosystem is accorded a separate chapter. Aquatic environments are dealt with under the headings of sandy, muddy, shingle and rocky foreshores, lagoons, salt marshes and estuaries, and terrestrial environments under the headings of sand-dunes, shingle, earth cliffs, rocky cliffs, reclaimed land and the submaritime fringe. There is an introductory chapter dealing primarily with physical factors determining the nature of the coastal
investigation include (a) the relation between hydrocarbon detoxification and aquatic organism tumorigenesis (b) the role of hydrocarbon stress in fish disease susceptibility (c) the interaction of lipophilic biocides with hydrocarbon degrading enzymes and (d) the establishment of dose effect levels for pathological changes which have been noted in marine animals after chronic hydrocarbon exposures.
Research and Resources Services, Fisheries and Marine Service, FisheriesandEnvironment Canada, 3 Water Street, St. John’s, Newfoundland, AIC IAI.
J. F: PAYNE
environment and human impacts on it, and a final chapter dealing with management of the coastal environment. This final chapter is restricted to management from the point of view of nature conservation and ignores the wider and more difficult issues of management of the coastal resource in the interest of all the activities which are part of an industrial society and which somehow or another have to be reconciled. However, many of the impacts of coastal development on particular coastal environments are discussed elsewhere in the book. As the blurb on the cover says, the orientation of the book is towards management practices which maintain the environment in its natural state. We shall probably continue to need harbours and power stations in the foreseeable future, and oil refineries for two or three more decades, and many developments of this kind must be or preferably are situated on the coast. Inevitably they cause some, sometimes major environmental change and the notion that everything can remain in a natural state (whatever that may mean) is either simplistic or raises some very complicated issues. It is not really the purpose of this book to chase that particular hare, and it deals more than adequately with situations in which human activities can be arranged in such a way as to have miniscule environmental impact and points up the critical features of marine and maritime environments, which must not be damaged if major environmental change is to be avoided. Within the bounds and with the objectives set by the editor in his introductory chapter, this book succeeds admirably. It is comprehensive, authoritative, well written and well produced. It has a good bibliography and a good index. The price is not exorbitant and the book should have a wide readership among senior undergraduates, conservationists and, one might hope, those concerned with the management of coastal resources. All will benefit from reading it and will have it on, and off, their bookshelves for some years. Knowledge will accumulate and details will change, but the general principles of how marine and maritime ecosystems function are well known, they are clearly enunciated in this book and they are unlikely to be changed very rapidly. R. B. CLARK 55