The Ecology of the Rocky Shores of Sherkin Island: A Twenty-year Perspective

Gillian Bishop Sherkin Island Marine Station, Sherkin Island, Co. Cork, Ireland 2003 , ISBN 1-870492-37-4 (hardback; € 50) , ISBN 1 870492 57 9 (softback; € 25) , 305 pp.

Rupert Riedl, in the inaugural issue of this journal more than a quarter of a century ago, distinguished four phases of marine studies: seafarers, oceanographic expeditions, marine stations and field research (Riedl 1980). Thus, marine stations would appear to have a solid position in the historical succession. The fact that such stations have been eclipsed by in situ study involving direct observation (for example by SCUBA) points to an inherent weakness in the station era: most stations – including some of the most famed – were constructed in harbors and at sites that have long since been enveloped by human settlements. They are therefore now positioned in a setting that hardly enables the study of natural processes in a natural environment, ushering in a new, fifth era devoted to studying and ameliorating disturbed marine ecosystems (Stachowitsch 2003).

The Sherkin Island Marine Station has the good fortune of having been established at a time (1975) when the above pitfalls were already being recognized. Equally luckily, the founding date lies far enough in the past to already have permitted almost 3 decades of work. One of the strengths of this volume is that it adheres to the concept of long-term monitoring. This is the type of data that everyone is clamoring for but that few are willing to actually devote themselves to. The book provides a wealth of information about individual species gathered over a 20-year period at a range of different sites near the Marine Station. A handful of key algal and invertebrate species receive concise full-page analyses – organized according to site including figures showing abundances by station, month, and year. Although explained on p. 30 by funding limitations and weather conditions, it's a shame that no data are available for the months November through March.

This ‘anniversary volume’ also underlines the role of personal commitment by showing how the will and energies of a few can decide about the success or failure of such an endeavor. As such, the book is also a very personal volume, which is evident in the many ‘family’ photos of past and present visitors to the station. One can only hope that the station and others like it will be able to survive when dedicated major players move on.

Although this handsome book is not the place to find a discourse on state-of-the-art advances in rocky shore ecology, it does admirably bridge the spectrum of interested parties, from school classes, university courses, scientists to government officials. A series of extensive appendices, a glossary, and a list of station publications round off this volume. The station harbors a huge and increasingly valuable database. The ongoing rocky shore-monitoring program has enabled first key findings to be distilled (considerable differences between the 1980s and 1990s) and perspectives to be drawn. May the station ‘live long and prosper’!