Beaches under pressure – effects of human access on vegetation at Baltic Sea beaches

Abstract

Questions How do cover, richness and composition of plant species vary according to different levels of beach access? What shifts in plant traits occur along gradients of tourism intensity? What recommendations regarding the sustainable management of Baltic Sea beaches can be proposed? Location Southern Baltic Sea beaches in Germany. Methods In this study, the species composition of vascular plants on beaches with differing accessibility to tourists was analysed at the southwest Baltic Sea coast. In total, 894 vegetation plots were evaluated in order to determine vegetation changes along the sea–inland gradient due to different levels of human accessibility at beaches. Relevés were conducted as repeated transects from the beach ridge to the shore. Shifts in vegetation characteristics due to different levels of tourism access were analysed at the level of plant communities and plant species traits. Results Species richness did not differ significantly between the levels of accessibility. Vegetation cover significantly increased with distance to the shore and was highest in the upper shore area of closed beaches (52.0 ± 2.7%). Corresponding to the increase in beach access, we observed an increase in ruderal species and a decrease in typical beach species of the vegetation class Honckenyo‐Elymetea. Tourism access and distance to the shoreline had a decisive influence on the distribution of plants with selected plant traits. In particular, at accessible sites, a loss of plants with leaves having high scleromorphy was recorded. Conclusions Increased beach access results in a loss of typical beach plant species. Changes in vegetation characteristics are considered to alter the function of the beach ecosystem. Based on these results, we derived spatially differentiated management measures for excluding the most sensitive beach areas from tourism.

Vegetation Characteristics and Recent Successional Trends of Sand Dune Habitats at the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast

“…The cover of psammophytes prevailed in the studied dune habitats and generally in all studied dune locations. Plant species richness and cover in the different dune habitats were not homogenous and increased in a gradient from the sea line towards the inland, which supports findings for other regions [21,[85][86][87]. Our results complement previous findings, demonstrating that not only is the abundance of typical species important but so is their cover, as it is a crucial element in the evolution of dune landscapes [88].…”

“…Grass-and shrubland plants as a group had the strongest presence in all dune types, but again, grey dune vegetation was the most influenced. Grey dunes normally present a higher vegetation cover and higher species richness compared to other early successional dune habitats [62,85,86,89], as they often grow in an undulating landscape with variable exposure and slope, resulting in high variability of microhabitats [90]. The presence of grass-and shrubland species, common for the Koelerio-Corynephoretea canescentis and Festuco-Brometea vegetation classes, is typical for Black Sea coastal dune vegetation, especially for the dunes of northern alliances, such as Cynodonto-Teucrion polii and Scabiosion ucranicae, which have been linked with the lower sand salinity due to the general lower salinity of Black Sea water [74].…”

Identifying Critical Thresholds in the Impacts of Invasive Alien Plants and Dune Paths on Native Coastal Dune Vegetation

“…The access to the beach should be managed in order to protect vulnerable dune vegetation from trampling impacts. The replacement of sand paths with raised wooden boardwalks over the dunes can greatly reduce the ecological impact of human presence in coastal transition dunes, promoting a rapid recovery of native plant communities, as observed in previous studies [35,120,121].…”