Marine Organisms Survey/Marine Organisms Biological Environment Survey(3rd Survey)

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Marine Organisms Survey/Marine Organisms Biological Environment Survey (3rd Survey)
Survey Sequence and Effective Years (All years are fiscal years)	data	Result list (Japanese only except )
2nd survey 1978		The National Survey on the Marine Natural Environment Report of Marine Organisms The National Survey on the Marine Natural Environment Report of Marine Organisms (Details of the Plot, Vertical distributions)
3rd survey 1984-1986		Report of the Marine Organisms Biological Environment Survey Report of the Marine Organisms Biological Environment Survey -Attached Data-
4th survey 1989-1992		Outline of Survey on Marine Organisms Environment (Coral Reef)

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1. Survey Objectives

To monitor the conditions and environments of marine organisms in Japan on a continuing basis, this survey investigated organisms living along the supralittoral zone (splash zone) and intertidal zone.

2. Survey Content and Methods

107 places in all 39 prefectures having seacoasts were surveyed (94 places in the 2nd survey). Twice a year at each location, in spring (usually May) and summer (usually September), a site survey was done at low tide of the spring tide.

The survey set up three quadrats, in each of the supralittoral, high tide, mid-tide and low tide zones, arrayed as if along a line at right angles to the waterline drawn from the survey base situated at the upper limit of tidal flow. Organisms in the quadrats were collected and analyzed.

3. Survey Results

(1) Horizontal distribution
A map was drawn showing the distribution of relatively frequently occurring organisms, those appearing at more than 5 mud and sand beaches and at more than 10 rocky beaches.

(2) Species Count
No great difference was seen in flora from area to area. For animals, however, mud, sand and rocky beaches in the southern portions of the Japanese Archipelago all had high species counts, while northern portions tended to have low counts. This may reflect differences in sea flow, differences between high and low tides, topography and so forth.