Function: Shelter and nutrition

Nursery habitats provide shelter and nutrition for the juvenile stages of species. For example, dence blueberry cover is important for grouse chicks that need to hide from predators. Blueberry is important also for nutrition. Grouse chicks eat invertebrates living blueberriers as well as blueberry leaves and flowers themselves.

In the Baltic Sea bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus) and toothed wrack (Fucus serratus) meadows are crucial breeding grounds for many marine fish species. The meadows support a wide range of invertebrates, which are a major nutrition source for juvenile fish.

Metsäkanalintujen elinympäristön suunnittelu. Suomen riistakeskus. [In Finnish]

Fucus vesiculosus. Species information sheet. HELCOM / Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission.