Biological Environment of the West Coast Coastal Marine Area: an outline of Marine and Coastal Ecosystems and Habitats

3.1 Introduction

The biodiversity of the West Coast’s coastal and marine environment is influenced by the interplay of many of the geophysical factors already outlined in Chapter 2, e.g.:

Oceanic and coastal currents and freshwater inflows;
Tides, waves, weather patterns and sea temperature;
Seabed and coastal topography; and
Geology and geomorphology, including sedimentation and river discharges.

This chapter looks at the biological environment of the West Coast coastal marine area, using the four environmental domains identified in section 2.5 of Chapter 2; that is, the:

Estuarine domain;
Intertidal (open coast) domain;
Shallow subtidal (open coast) domain; and
Deep nearshore domain.

After an initial look at the range of marine and coastal plant and animal species on the West Coast, the biodiversity associated with the different ecosystems (as delineated on the basis of varying depths, substrates, and exposures and other physical features found in these domains) is outlined. The chapter then concludes with an account of some habitats on the margin of the West Coast marine and coastal area.