Species point records from 1991 UMBSM Lochs Laxford, Inchard, Broom & Little Loch Broom survey

Four sealochs, Lochs Laxford, Inchard, Broom and Little Loch Broom were surveyed between the 10th and 22nd May 1991 based on board the 59' charter vessel M.V.`Salutay`. The UMBSM/MNCR survey team were joined by a second group of MNCR and NCCS staff who conducted the littoral part of the survey in Lochs Laxford and Inchard. Loch Laxford and Inchard are the most northwesterly lochs on the Scottish mainland, situated in the Sutherland district of the Highlands. Loch Inchard is a simple fjordic loch with a single basin wheras Loch Laxford has more complex fjardic characteristics, with numerous small islands and side branches. The rugged countryside surrounding the lochs is sparsely popuplated, although Kinlochbervie harbour, in Loch Inchard, has recently been modernised. Loch Broom and Little Loch Broom have greater surface areas than the above two lochs and are situated further to the south in Ross and Cromarty. Both lochs are fjordic with nearly straight sides and have 3 and 2 basins respectively. The Summer Isles, situated a few miles to the west, shelter the entrance to Loch Broom, making it a suitable anchorage for heavy shipping including large Russian fishing ships known as `Klondykers`. Ullapool is the most northwesterly town on the mainland and has the roles of fishing port and mainland link with the Outer Hebrides. The ferry to Stornoway on Lewis runs twice daily during the summer and smaller boats take tourists on day trips to the Summer Isles. Shellfish and salmonid farms are present throughout all the lochs in this group, although not all the leased sites listed by the Crown Estates Commission were occupied at the time of the survey. Loch Laxford is a Marine Consultation Area and part of the loch shore is included in the Laxford SSSI. Previous survey work in the area includes littoral studies by Lewis (1957), Powell et al. (1980) and Smith (1978, 1981), and sublittoral studies by Smith (1985) and Gubbay and Nunn (1988). Eighty-five sites in total were surveyed by the two groups of which 62 were sublittoral and 23 were littoral; 37 habitat/community types were described, a large proportion of which were found in Lochs Laxford, a'Chadh-fi, Dughaill and the nearby lochans Loch an Râ¢in and Loch Ceann na Sâ¦ile. Overall, there was a wide variety of communities on the full spectrum of wave-exposure and tidal stream strengths. The communities in the outer parts of Lochs Laxford, Inchard and Little Loch Broom had several factors in common including areas of heavily grazed bedrock and boulders with Laminaria hyperborea leading down to sand and coarse muddy sediment. There was a gradual transition from the exposed L.hyperborea dominated rocky substrata to L.saccharina forests in the more sheltered regions of the lochs, except in Loch Broom where sheltered L.saccharina forests predominated. The sill communities on a mixture of boulders and sediment in Little Loch Broom were surveyed briefly but were found to support a wide range of groups of species including Leptometra celtica, Psolus phantapus and a variety of hydroids, bryozoans and nudibranchs. A few species were found in large numbers but with a limited distribution, for examples, Protanthea simplex attached to the tubes of Chaetopterus variopedatus in Loch inchard, Limaria hians beds in Loch Broom and Little Loch Broom and Funiculina quadrangularis on deep mud in Loch Broom. Some of the shallower mud communities in Loch a'Chadh-fi supported dense Sagartiogeton laceratus along with Lumpenus lampraetiformis. Records currently considered sensitive have been removed from this dataset.

自1991年5月10日至22日，对洛赫拉克斯福德、英查德、布鲁姆和洛赫布鲁姆等四个湖泊进行了考察，考察活动是在59英尺的租赁船只M.V.‘Salutay’上进行的。UMBSM/MNCR考察团队与MNCR和NCCS的第二组工作人员共同参与，对洛赫拉克斯福德和英查德的沿岸部分进行了考察。洛赫拉克斯福德和英查德是苏格兰大陆最西北部的湖泊，位于高地地区的苏塞兰地区。洛赫英查德是一个结构简单的峡湾湖，拥有一个单一的盆地，而洛赫拉克斯福德则具有更复杂的峡湾特征，拥有众多小岛屿和支流。环绕湖泊的崎岖乡村地区人口稀少，尽管英查德湖中的金洛克贝里港最近进行了现代化改造。洛赫布鲁姆和洛赫小布鲁姆的表面积大于上述两个湖泊，位于更南部的罗斯和克罗姆纳地区。两个湖泊都是峡湾湖，拥有近乎直线的岸边，分别有3个和2个盆地。位于西边数英里外的夏日群岛保护了洛赫布鲁姆的入口，使其成为重型船舶，包括被称为‘Klondykers’的大型俄罗斯渔船的理想锚地。乌拉普尔是大陆上最西北的城镇，扮演着渔港和与外赫布里底群岛的主岛连接的角色。夏季期间，前往莱维斯岛的轮渡每天往返两次，小型船只载着游客进行一日游。该组湖泊中均存在贝类和鲑鱼养殖场，尽管并非所有由王冠地产委员会列出的租赁地点在当时考察时都已占用。洛赫拉克斯福德是海洋咨询区域，其中一部分湖岸被纳入拉克斯福德SSSI。该区域之前的考察工作包括路易斯（1957年）进行的沿岸研究、鲍威尔等人（1980年）的研究以及史密斯（1978年、1981年）的研究，以及史密斯（1985年）和古贝伊与纳恩（1988年）进行的次生研究。两组共考察了85个地点，其中62个为次生，23个为沿岸；描述了37种栖息地/群落类型，其中大部分位于洛赫拉克斯福德、a'Chadh-fi、Dughaill以及附近的湖泊洛赫an Râ¢in和洛赫Ceann na Sâile。总体而言，在全面暴露于波浪冲击和潮流强度范围内的群落种类极为丰富。洛赫拉克斯福德、英查德和洛赫小布鲁姆外部的群落具有一些共同因素，包括严重放牧的岩石和巨砾区域，以及由北极膜藻（Laminaria hyperborea）引领至沙滩和粗泥质沉积物的区域。从暴露的北极膜藻主导的岩石底质到洛赫较受保护的区域的糖藻（L.saccharina）森林，存在一个逐渐的过渡，但在洛赫布鲁姆中，受保护的糖藻森林占主导地位。洛赫小布鲁姆中由巨砾和沉积物混合而成的凹槽群落进行了简要考察，但发现支持了包括莱普特梅特拉（Leptometra celtica）、波索斯（Psolus phantapus）以及各种水螅、苔藓动物和海蛞蝓在内的广泛物种群。一些物种数量庞大，但分布有限，例如，在英查德湖的切斯特波图斯（Chaetopterus variopedatus）管道上附着的普罗塔尼亚（Protanthea simplex）、洛赫布鲁姆和洛赫小布鲁姆中的床状海葵（Limaria hians）以及洛赫布鲁姆深泥中的方管藻（Funiculina quadrangularis）。洛赫a'Chadh-fi中较浅的泥质群落支持了密集的萨加蒂奥根（Sagartiogeton laceratus）和Lumpenus lampraetiformis。目前被认为敏感的记录已被从本数据集中移除。