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Coastal shingle in Great Britain: A preliminary review 1990

Abstract

Shingle borders about one third of the 19,000 km of shoreline in Great Britain. Some 3,500 km or 20% of the beaches at Mean High Water (MHW) are almost pure shingle. At a small number of locations, a series of beaches have been deposited on top or against each other to form sometimes massive areas of shingle, such as Dungeness.

In recognition of the importance of these areas for the conservation of specialist plants, animals and vegetation types, a national review of these structures and their vegetation is being undertaken. This work forms part of a Great Britain wide review of coastal vegetation of sand dunes, saltmarshes and sea cliffs currently being undertaken through the Nature Conservancy Council's (NCC's) Research Programme.

This report outlines the current status of vegetated shingle in Great Britain and provides a preliminary assessment of a survey being undertaken at Girton College, Cambridge under contract to the Chief Scientist Directorate of the NCC.

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Resource type Publication

Topic category Environment

Reference date 1990··

Citation
Randall, R.E., Sneddon, P. & Doody, P. 1990. Coastal Shingle in Great Britain - A preliminary review. NCC Contract Survey 85. Nature Conservancy Council. (JNCC, Peterborough) ISSN 0952-4355.

Lineage
The Coastal Ecology Branch of the Chief Scientists Directorate was established in August 1979.

Responsible organisation
Communications, JNCC publisher

Limitations on public access No limitations

Use constraints Available under the Open Government Licence 3.0

Metadata date 2025·10·30

Metadata point of contact
Communications, JNCC

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