Habitat point records from 1988-89 MNCR Loch Linnhe survey

Loch Linnhe forms the submerged western end of the Great Glen Fault which divides the highlands in two between Inverness and Fort William. With Lochs Etive, Creran, a'Choire, Leven and Eil adjoining the main loch it is the largest sealoch system in Scotland. Loch Linnhe opens into the Firth of Lorne and lies at the southern end of the Sound of Mull, off which Loch Aline branches. The area has more coastal development than most west coast lochs, and boasts two of the west coast's principal towns, Fort William and Oban. Its proximity to the Scottish Marine Biological Association laboratories at Dunstaffnage has lead to much research being undertaken in the area, including a major study on the effects of organic enrichment on sealoch benthos. Loch Eil and Linnhe have been studied over 20 years during the lifetime of a pulp mill which discharged waste into Annat Narrows. The area incorporates a wide variety of habitats, with wave exposures ranging from extremely sheltered to moderately exposed, tidal streams from very weak to strong, and salinities from low to normal. Sediments vary from soft muds to gravels, and bedrock and boulders occur down to at least 50 m. The island of Lismore is one of Scotland's largest coastal exposures of limestone. The area, excluding Lochs Leven and Etive, was surveyed in June 1989. With additional information from sites examined in 1988 and from previous studies, a total of 11 littoral and 30 sublittoral communities have been described. Rocky shores were dominated by fucoid algae, with barnacles becoming co-dominant on the more exposed shores. Much of the upper lochs had an impoverished fucoid community on mixed shores of stones and coarse sediment. Sedimentary communities ranged from those in muddy gravel to lugworm and mussel beds, with the tellin Angulus tenuis in cleaner fine sands on the more exposed beaches. In the sublittoral zone, kelp forests of Laminaria hyperborea and Laminaria saccharina, often with a rich undergrowth of red or brown algae, gave way to communities composed of brachipods, hydroids, sponges and ascidians. Brittlestar beds were common in tideswept areas, with horse mussel Modiolus modiolus and flame shell Limaria hians beds developing in the stronger currents. On stoney sediments, burrowing sea cucumbers were common. Fine muddy sands had populations of the bivalve Arctica islandica, and communities of seapens, Amphiura spp. and burrowing megafauna were widespread in the finer muds. From Loch Eil, through upper Loch Linnhe to lower Loch Linnhe there was a gradual increase in species diversity from the brackish reaches of the upper basins to the more exposed and slightly current swept areas adjoining the biologically rich Firth of Lorne. Loch Creran, with its serpulid reefs and other rich communities was rather different in character to the main basins of Loch Linnhe and Loch Eil. Eight communities and twenty-six species are considered to be of interest for their rarity or richness. The Annat Narrows area, a section of upper Loch Linnhe, the Lynn of Lorne including the islands of Lismore and Shuna, and Loch Creran are highly rated for their marine communities. Records currently considered sensitive have been removed from this dataset.

洛奇林恩湖构成了大格伦断层沉没的西部端点，该断层将高地一分为二，介于因弗内斯与福尔威廉之间。洛奇林恩湖与埃蒂夫湖、克里兰湖、阿乔雷湖、利文湖和伊尔湖相邻，构成了苏格兰最大的陆缘湖泊系统。洛奇林恩湖通向洛恩湾，位于马尔岛海峡的南端，洛阿林湖由此分支。该地区沿海开发程度高于大多数西海岸湖泊，拥有西海岸的主要城镇福尔威廉和奥班。其靠近邓斯泰夫纳格的苏格兰海洋生物学会实验室，导致该地区进行了大量研究，包括一项关于有机物质富集对陆缘湖泊底栖生物影响的主要研究。洛奇林恩湖和埃蒂夫湖在浆纸厂向安纳特海峡排放废物的20年期间进行了研究。该地区涵盖了多种多样的栖息地，波浪暴露度从极端避风到适度暴露不等，潮流从非常微弱到强劲，盐度从低到正常。沉积物从软泥到砾石不等，基岩和巨石至少延伸至50米深。利斯莫尔岛是苏格兰最大的海岸石灰岩裸露区之一。排除利文湖和埃蒂夫湖，该地区于1989年6月进行了调查。结合1988年考察的地点和先前的研究，共描述了11个沿岸和30个次沿岸群落。岩石海岸主要由苔藓藻类构成，在更加暴露的海岸上，藤壶成为共优势种。湖的上部大部分地区在石质和粗质沉积物的混合岸线上拥有贫瘠的苔藓藻类群落。沉积物群落从泥质砾石到蚯蚓和牡蛎床不等，在更加暴露的沙滩上，细沙中可找到细长角形贝（Angulus tenuis）。在次海底区域，欧石莼（Laminaria hyperborea）和海带（Laminaria saccharina）的藻类森林，常伴有丰富的红色或棕色藻类下生长，逐渐过渡到由枝角类、水螅、海绵和海鞘组成的群落。在潮流冲刷区，棘皮动物床很常见，在较强的水流中，马蛤（Modiolus modiolus）和火焰贝（Limaria hians）床逐渐形成。在石质沉积物上，潜沙海参很常见。细腻的泥沙中生活着双壳类动物阿留申岛贝（Arctica islandica），而在更细腻的泥沙中，海葵、Amphiura属和挖掘巨型动物群落广泛分布。从埃蒂夫湖到洛奇林恩湖上游再到下游，物种多样性逐渐增加，从上游盐度较高的区域到靠近生物丰富的洛恩湾的更加暴露和略受潮流冲刷的区域。克里兰湖，以其环节虫珊瑚礁和其他丰富群落，其特征与洛奇林恩湖和埃蒂夫湖的主盆地截然不同。有八个群落和二十六种生物因其稀有或丰富而被认为是具有研究价值的。安纳特海峡区域，洛奇林恩湖上游的一部分，洛恩的林恩，包括利斯莫尔岛和舒纳岛，以及克里兰湖因其海洋群落而备受推崇。目前认为敏感的记录已从该数据集中移除。