The role of nearshore currents in limiting coastal dispersal

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Ward ◽  
Peter Robins ◽  
Stuart Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Irish Sea ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Energy Devices ◽  
The Irish Sea

<p>The introduction, spread and establishment of marine non-native species, facilitated by species’ dispersal capabilities and enhanced by the continued expansion of global trade and transportation networks, presents a global threat to marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Increases in hard structures such as offshore renewable energy devices or coastal defenses, built partly as a response to climate change, potentially facilitate the secondary spread of non-native species by providing stepping stones of suitable habitat for fouling organisms. Within the ECOSTRUCTURE project we are developing biophysical modelling techniques to help predict and understand the dispersal of marine organisms in the Irish Sea. However, shelf-scale biophysical models typically omit near-shore and inter-tidal features and processes, which potentially play a significant role in larval dispersal. Here, we evaluate how nearshore flows affect coastal larval spread in the Irish Sea, a semi-enclosed energetic shelf sea with considerable potential for renewable energy developments as well as with evidence of existing marine non-native communities. We use an unstructured, finite element, hydrodynamic model of a topographically-complex coastline (which includes headlands, bays and channels) at four different spatial scales (50 – 500 m) to compare the influence of model spatial resolution on transport and dispersal patterns of particles released within the nearshore region. We found that particles were transported offshore more quickly and travelled further overall in the relatively higher-resolution simulations. The lower-resolution simulations appeared to be more retentive in the nearshore zone, resulting in increased alongshore connectivity. With a better understanding of the role of nearshore dynamics on larval transport processes, it is possible to more accurately simulate the spread of non-native species in the marine environment.</p>

The Role of Women in Plant-based Textile Production during the Viking Diaspora in Scotland and the Irish Sea Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-358
Author(s):  
Susan Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Irish Sea ◽  
Viking Age ◽  
Textile Production ◽  
The Status ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
The Irish Sea ◽  
Grave Goods

Evidence for textiles in viking-age Scotland and the adjacent Irish Sea region derives from small fragments usually surviving as mineralised products associated with metal dress fittings and grave goods such as shield bosses and weaving battens, excavated from the furnished graves of both women and men. Since Scottish viking-age textiles were last reviewed over twenty years ago, this paper collates information from antiquarian finds and more recent excavations which employed considerably enhanced techniques for retrieving fragile archaeological textiles. Evidence is presented for the occurrence and role of plant-based textiles derived from flax and hemp including linen in funerary processes as burial garments, shrouds and wrapping other grave goods, such as weapons and tools. Many richly appointed women's graves in viking-age Scotland were accompanied by tool assemblages used in the manufacture and maintenance of textiles. The presence of these tools raises questions about the status of textile production and the roles women played in it.

From midden to megalith? The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in western Britain

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki Cummings
Keyword(s):  
Transition Process ◽  
The Other ◽  
Irish Sea ◽  
Technological Transformation ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Isle Of Man ◽  
The Past ◽  
Hunting And Gathering ◽  
The Irish Sea

The transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic in Britain and Ireland remains one of the most debated and contested transitions of prehistory. Much more complex than a simple transition from hunting and gathering to farming, the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Britain has been discussed not only as an economic and technological transformation, but also as an ideological one. In western Britain in particular, with its wealth of Neolithic monuments, considerable emphasis has been placed on the role of monumentality in the transition process. Over the past decade the author‧s research has concentrated on the early Neolithic monumental traditions of western Britain, a deliberate focus on areas outside the more ‘luminous’ centres of Wessex, the Cotswold–Severn region, and Orkney. This chapter discusses the transition in western Britain, with an emphasis on the monuments of this region. In particular, it discusses the areas around the Irish Sea – west Wales, the Isle of Man, south-west and western Scotland – as well as referring to the sequence on the other side of the Irish Sea, specifically eastern Ireland.

The role of the generally unrecognised microprey source as food for larval fish in the Irish Sea

2005 ◽  
Vol 148 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisela M. de Figueiredo ◽  
Richard D. M. Nash ◽  
David J. S. Montagnes
Keyword(s):  
Larval Fish ◽  
Irish Sea ◽  
The Irish Sea

scholarly journals Geological and geotechnical constraints in the Irish Sea for offshore renewable energy

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 420-431
Author(s):  
Mark Coughlan ◽  
Mike Long ◽  
Paul Doherty
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Irish Sea ◽  
The Irish Sea

scholarly journals The concept of fecundity regulation in plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) tested on three Irish Sea spawning populations

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Kennedy ◽  
P R Witthames ◽  
R DM Nash
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Irish Sea ◽  
The West ◽  
Liverpool Bay ◽  
Pleuronectes Platessa ◽  
Isle Of Man ◽  
Spawning Areas ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
The Irish Sea ◽  
Different Levels

The fecundity of European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) in the Irish Sea between 2000 and 2004 was estimated during the spawning season for fish in the three main spawning areas (Liverpool Bay, the Cumbrian coast, and the western Irish Sea) and one small spawning group on the west coast of the Isle of Man. Fecundity was also estimated during September of 2003 and 2004. The aim of this was to assess the variability in fecundity between areas and years in the Irish Sea and also to identify when differences in fecundity become apparent in the maturation cycle. There were variations in fecundity on both the temporal and spatial scales. The greatest variation in fecundity between years occurred in the western Irish Sea, whereas there was no variation between years in the southeastern Irish Sea (Liverpool Bay). There was no difference in fecundity between areas or years during September. The maximum fecundity in plaice is determined by the total weight of the fish at the end of follicle recruitment in the ovary, and differences in the fecundity of each population are the result of different levels of down-regulation in the period between the end of follicle proliferation and spawning.

scholarly journals Benthic effects of offshore renewables: identification of knowledge gaps and urgently needed research

2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 1092-1108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Dannheim ◽  
Lena Bergström ◽  
Silvana N R Birchenough ◽  
Radosław Brzana ◽  
Arjen R Boon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Ecological Modelling ◽  
Research Needs ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Cascading Effects ◽  
Energy Devices ◽  
Marine Renewable Energy ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Ecological Functioning

Abstract As the EU's commitment to renewable energy is projected to grow to 20% of energy generation by 2020, the use of marine renewable energy from wind, wave and tidal resources is increasing. This literature review (233 studies) (i) summarizes knowledge on how marine renewable energy devices affect benthic environments, (ii) explains how these effects could alter ecosystem processes that support major ecosystem services and (iii) provides an approach to determine urgent research needs. Conceptual diagrams were set up to structure hypothesized cause-effect relationships (i.e. paths). Paths were scored for (i) temporal and spatial scale of the effect, (ii) benthic sensitivity to these effects, (iii) the effect consistency and iv) scoring confidence, and consecutively ranked. This approach identified prominent knowledge gaps and research needs about (a) hydrodynamic changes possibly resulting in altered primary production with potential consequences for filter feeders, (b) the introduction and range expansion of non-native species (through stepping stone effects) and, (c) noise and vibration effects on benthic organisms. Our results further provide evidence that benthic sensitivity to offshore renewable effects is higher than previously indicated. Knowledge on changes of ecological functioning through cascading effects is limited and requires distinct hypothesis-driven research combined with integrative ecological modelling.

scholarly journals The Role of Stone in Island Societies in Neolithic Atlantic Europe: Creating Places and Cultural Landscapes

ARCTIC ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Cooney
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
Irish Sea ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Northwest Europe ◽  
The Irish Sea

The focus of the paper is an engagement with the significance of the exploitation of stone sources to make objects, particularly stone axe heads on islands in northwest Europe during the Neolithic period (4000 – 2500 BC). Case studies of Lambay Island in the Irish Sea, Rathlin Island off the northeast coast of Ireland, and the Shetland Islands explore the use of these three stone sources through the archaeological record, examining the biographies of objects (from quarries, through use, to discard or deposition) and applying a range of approaches to understanding material culture. What emerges is an understanding of the central role these three lithic sources played in how people engaged with and created their island places and landscapes. Through their daily engagement with different stone sources (including the ones focused on here) at a range of scales, people created and sustained social relationships and conventions. Hence it is argued that stone artefacts from local sources played a special role in shaping identities on the three islands.

scholarly journals Genetic variation in Irish Sea brown crab (Cancer pagurus L.): implications for local and regional management

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 879-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niall J. McKeown ◽  
Hayley V. Watson ◽  
Ilaria Coscia ◽  
Emma Wootton ◽  
Joseph E. Ironside
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Irish Sea ◽  
Cancer Pagurus ◽  
Neutral Genetic Diversity ◽  
Demographic Processes ◽  
High Gene ◽  
The Irish Sea ◽  
Genetic Patchiness

AbstractUnderstanding demographic processes over multiple spatial scales is vital for the optimization of conservation/management strategies, particularly for commercially harvested taxa such as the brown crab (Cancer pagurus L). Brown crab population genetic structure was investigated at (i) a local scale within the Irish Sea, which included comparisons with the Lundy No Take Zone (NTZ) and (ii) across the NE Atlantic. The results indicate that the brown crab does not exhibit strong spatial structure either within the Irish Sea or at the regional level, suggesting high gene flow within and among the Irish Sea, English Channel and North Sea. Comparisons between the Lundy NTZ and harvested areas revealed similarly high levels of genetic diversity. An intriguing result was that the Lundy NTZ sample exhibited a degree of genetic patchiness (ephemeral geographically unpatterned differentiation) which may indicate elevated recruitment skews within the NTZ. Overall, the results support the view that brown crabs within the sampled area belong to a single genetically panmictic stock and that if breeding stock sizes are maintained genetic drift will not be strong enough to reduce neutral genetic diversity. The highly connected nature of this species requires international cooperation for sustainable management, an important component of which will be the application of more powerful population genomic approaches to assess finer scale aspects of stock structure as well drivers of genetic patchiness reported for the species. This is a timely consideration in light of potential future misalignments between biological and geopolitical stock boundaries in the Irish Sea following Brexit.

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