Major long‐term changes in the ecology of the Ythan estuary,Aberdeenshire, Scotland; how important are physical factors?

1. Long‐term data sets on macro‐algae, sediment invertebrates, shorebirds and physical parameters are explored for the Ythan estuary, Scotland. 2. Coverage by macro‐algal mats has increased over the last 40 years with significant impacts on the distribution and abundance of benthic invertebrates and their shorebird consumers. Areas of the estuary worst affected by the mats now support fewer Corophium volutator, whilst the abundance of this and other species has increased in areas less affected by mats, possibly through enrichment by non‐local macro‐algal detritus. 3. Shorebird abundance increased between the early 1960s and the 1980s, possibly in response to enhanced invertebrate abundance in unaffected areas, but has declined since, as algal mats continue to spread. 4. The cause of the increased biomass of macro‐algae is contentious, but the present analysis shows that the increase is unlikely to be related to changes in the physical characteristics of the estuary, which appear to have remained fairly constant over at least the last 30 years. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.