Abstract
The common or toothed topshell, Trochocochlea lineata (da Costa, 1778), is at its northeastern geographical limit in the south and west of the British Isles. It is likely that these limits are related to some feature of air or water temperature. Along the Somerset coast, as elsewhere in southern Britain, the summer of 1995 was warmer for longer than most of its predecessors and the 1995–1996 winter was colder for longer than any since 1978. This combination of circumstances prompted an investigation into the relative effects of these two seasons. Recruitment of the 1995 cohort was unusually successful at some sites but the subsequent cold winters have removed much of that advantage on Gore Point, probably the easternmost permanent population in the Bristol Channel. The two most easterly populations, either side of Helwell Bay (Watchet), did not survive the winter of 1996–1997. The conclusion from these observations is that a hot summer can encourage recruitment but that the geographical limit in Somerset may be maintained by cold weather in winter.
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Crothers, J.H. A hot summer, cold winters, and the geographical limit of Trochocochlea lineat in Somerset. Hydrobiologia 378, 133–141 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003202008215
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003202008215