A review of long-term research in the western English Channel
O Langmead1, Southward, AJ1, Hardman-Mountford, NJ2, Aiken, J.2, Boalch, GT1, Joint, I2,
Kendall, M2, Halliday, NC1, Harris, RP2, Leaper, R1, Mieszkowska, N1, Pingree, RD1,
Richardson, AJ3, Sims, DW1, Smith, T2, Walne, AW3 and Hawkins, SJ1
1. Marine Biological Association of the UK, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK.
2. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, West Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK.
3. Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK.
1.Executive Summary
This review aims to outline long-term research from the western English Channel undertaken by the laboratories
in Plymouth. Data held at Plymouth are described, and details of survey methods, sites, and time-series are
given. Major findings from long-term studies are summarized, and their limitations outlined. Current research,
with recent resurgence and expansion of many sampling programmes, is presented, along with future
approaches, illustrating how these important and unique data, as well as providing an environmental baseline,
can aid in understanding and predicting complex ecological responses to a changing environment.
Between 1888 and the present date, investigations have been carried out into the physical, chemical and
biological components (from plankton and fish to benthic and intertidal assemblages) of the western English
Channel ecosystem. The Marine Biological Association of the UK has collected the main body of these
observations, with more recent contributions from the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey (from 1957) and
Plymouth Marine Laboratory (from 1988). Together, these constitute a unique data series, in terms of the long
time span and comprehensive sampling of biological and environmental parameters of the western English
Channel ecosystem. Since the termination of many of these time-series in 1987, there has been a resurgence of
interest in long-term environmental chang