The coast

The sea covers about 70% of the Earth’s surface. The first living organisms arose in the sea around 3.5 billion years ago. Throughout history, the resources of the sea have formed an important basis for us humans. That is why we have often settled along the coast. But what kind of nature is it that we actually find here?

Norway has a coastline of around 500,000 km, if we measure into every cove, bay and fjord (Bjerkely 2018). That is about 12.5 times around the Earth at the equator. The long stretch of coast gives a great diversity of habitat types, from short fjords with small skerries, islets and rounded svaberg along the coast of Sørlandet and in Mid-Norway, to steep mountains along deep fjords in Vestlandet, and to sharp, pointed peaks rising straight out of the sea in Nordland. From mild, sheltered summers in the south to rain-soaked seasons in the west, and to a harsh, rugged climate in the north with darkness all winter and sun all summer.

Even though there are very large variations, we can nonetheless divide the shores into a number of broad types. What all the types have in common is that they are affected by wave action and salt, and the plants that grow there must cope with fairly unstable conditions.

Contents

The different shore types in Norway

Rocky shore or shore bedrock

is the most common shore type in Norway. Here there are smooth coastal rock or cliffs that go straight down into the water. It is difficult for many plants to get a foothold, and so there are often relatively few species. On the smooth coastal rock grow carpets of lichen in different colours. One that is easy to recognise is brass lichen, which lies like an orange-yellow belt just above where the waves normally break. Above this we can find flowering plants in the rock crevices, such as thrift. Further up the shore the vegetation becomes more continuous, with grass, crowberry, juniper and pine.

Cobble shores

are shores with smaller stones that have been worn round by the sea. They occur in various places along the coast where the glaciers during the last ice age deposited loose material of stone (moraines). Many of the species that grow on shore bedrock can also be found here, and at the same time other species too can grow in the thin soil between the stones. A little way up the shore, where the waves break in, there are often wrack walls, heaps of seaweed and kelp that have been washed in and lie rotting. Here there are plenty of nutrients and therefore often a fairly lush vegetation of, for example, orache. On the other side of the wrack wall we find plants such as lyme grass and seashore angelica, all species with a far-reaching root system.

Sandy shores

we find in bays and coves, where the seabed consists of sand. Wrack walls form here too, and many of the same species found on cobble shores are also found here. Some plants, such as lyme grass, are specialised to tolerate drifting sand. They form dense tussocks that catch the sand. When they become covered, they grow up through the sand and can then catch even more sand. In this way they build up large sand dunes, where the sand is held together by a net of roots and stems.

Salt meadows

are found along the whole coast. They are associated with gently sloping shore areas of sand, gravel, soil or clay. Throughout history they have been used for grazing livestock and for hay-making. Salt meadows are often damp because there is a flow of fresh water from higher-lying areas. At high water and during storms the salt meadows are often flooded, so all plants here must be able to tolerate salt. On salt meadows you can find plants such as silverweed, thrift, orache and glasswort. Salt meadows are important grazing and nesting sites for many birds.

Most common plants cannot tolerate salt, since it dries them out. But plants that grow by the coast have learned to cope with salt. They also tolerate both being flooded and drying out, and they tolerate fairly large swings in temperature. There are not many plants that manage to live with all these difficulties. The further away from the seawater we go, the more different species we will therefore find.

Plants by the coast

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Next steps

• Lakes, watercourses and bog — another biotope
• The mountains — another biotope
• Forest — another biotope
• Learn more about plants — species knowledge and reference
• Plants — the hub

Learn more

• Artsdatabanken — species, status, red list
• SNL — norsk botanikk — encyclopaedic
• Sopp- og Nyttevekstforbundet — courses and verification
• Botanisk forening — Norwegian botany community

Text Lærke Søndergaard Stewart, Snuitide (2022)

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