Oyce of Isbister

Sampling Design

Sites And Species Lists

Pattern Analisys

List of Species in Oyce of Isbister

Oyce of Isbister - Orkney Islands

Physical features
Physiographic type	Silled saline lagoon
Area	8 ha
Maximum lenght	0.4 km
Bathymetry	Maximum depth 0.4 m below loch datum
Wave exposure	Ultra sheltered
Tidal stream	Very weak
Tidal range	0.5 m
Salinity	5-18‰ (estimated)

Oyce of Isbister (Latitude: 59° 02.8’ N, Longitude: 03° 03.5’ W) is a silled lagoon at the end of Bay of Isbister on the north-east coast of Mainland Orkney.

The lagoon is connected to the Bay of Isbister via narrow channel through a shigle spit. The lagoon is 0.4 km long, has a maximum depth of 0.4 m and a tidal range about 0.5m. The salinity range was estimated to be between 5‰ and 18‰. There is substantial freshwater input from a stream which enters at the north-western corner. There is a very little disturbance from tidal currents and wave action. The lagoon is surrouned by saltmarsh and backed by pasture land.The main body of the lagoon, between 0 and 0.4 m depth, consisted of sandly gravel overlain by a layer of fine sand.

The sediment was dominated by the green alga Enteromorpha intestinalis with a few small areas of the tasselweed Ruppia sp. And the brackish-water wrak Fucus ceranoides. There were burrows of the amphipod Corophium volutator in the sediment and the mud snail Hydrobia ulvae was present on the surface of the mud.

References:

Thorpe, K. 1998.Marine Nature Conservation Reviews Sectors 1 & 2. Lagoons in Shetland and Orkney: area summaries. Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. (Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom. MNCR series).