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Distribution of the marine molluscs of north-west Europe 1990

Abstract

In 1982, the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC), with the Conchological Society, published the 'Sea Area Atlas of Marine Mollusca of Britain and Ireland' (ed. D. Seaward). In the foreword of the Atlas, it was stressed that, the publication, while of considerable use in its own right, was also intended to identify gaps in knowledge and thus stimulate the collection of further information.

Eight years on, in 1990, carefully and expertly checked and collated new information was used to produce 'The Distribution of the Manne Molluscs of North West Europe'. This publication not only amended and updated the information base of the previous Atlas but considerably extended the geographical area of search covered.

Such information is vital in marine nature conservation, where knowledge of the distribution of species is essential in preparing the description and classification of marine ecosystems which provide the structure for the process of identifying important sites. Although the information in this publication is qualitative rather than quantitative, the underlying data allow the identification of at least some molluscs whose distributions are so restricted that the species may be considered endangered and thus worthy of statutory protection. In addition, the biogeographical presentation of the data provides, albeit on a coarse scale, a baseline against which future trends in species distribution may be determined, particularly in relation to large-scale events such as global warming.

Please note, an update to the 'Distribution of the marine molluscs of north-west Europe' was published in 1993 (JNCC Report 165). This update reflects the Conchological Society's new marine census datum of 1 January 1991. In addition, the opportunity was taken to add earlier records notified or confirmed too late for inclusion in Seaward (1990). Nomenclature was also updated, the North Sea/Baltic boundary was amended to take account of important surveys in that region, and errata were incorporated.

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Resource type Publication

Topic category Environment

Reference date 1990··

Citation
Seaward, D.R. 1990. Distribution of the marine molluscs of north-west Europe. JNCC, Peterborough, ISBN 0 861139 681 2.

Lineage
Originally intended to update and amend the *Sea Area Atlas of Marine Molluscs of Britain and Ireland* (Seaward 1982), this work was extended to cover a larger area and more species.

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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