Abstract
Summary Beach erosion along the N coast of the Wirral peninsula (NW England) made it necessary to build a series of new defences. Completion of these in 1985 preceded a major reduction of pollution levels in the R. Mersey. The object of this investigation has been to see how marine algal vegetation and floristic diversity have developed on the defences following the improvement in the water quality of the estuary. Two types of material were used in construction: precast concrete blocks (smooth surface) and limestone rocks (rough surface). These materials were used in the building of reefs and for the revetment of old seawall, parts of which were left unreveted. Analysis of samples from these substrata revealed no significant differences in species zonation, in abundance of Fucus or in numbers of species. However, the floristic composition of the block samples differed significantly from that on the rocks, in spite of the fact that they were placed on the shore at the same time. The rock flora includes mor...
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