Recreational activities trigger changes in meiofauna and free-living nematodes on Amazonian macrotidal sandy beaches

Effects of vehicle traffic and trampling on the macrobenthic community of Amazonian macrotidal sandy beaches

“…In fact, recreational activities in Amazonian beaches are likely to have higher impacts during the vacation periods in the benthic fauna, as shown by a previous study (Santos et al, 2021a). In that study Santos et al (2021a) showed that the meiofauna community is sensitive to recreational activities, and these impacts may be related to changes in substrate characteristics, especially to compaction.…”

“…Several studies have shown that sand compactness in sandy beaches can be affected by the intensity of several recreative activities, including the traffic of a high number of vehicles (van der Merwe & van der Merwe, 1991; Schlacher & Thompson, 2007) and human trampling (Schlacher & Thompson, 2012; Reyes-Martínez et al ., 2015; Machado et al ., 2017). Thus, sites with high compaction, reflecting firmer substrates, may be unfavourable to a wide range of benthic organisms (Santos et al ., 2021 a ), affecting the communities directly (e.g. by removing individuals) and/or indirectly (e.g.…”

“…bacteriological contamination from sewage outfalls, litter pollution) (Sousa-Felix et al ., 2017; Pereira et al ., 2018). Another emerging environmental problem on many Amazonian beaches is the presence of multiple motor vehicles (Pereira et al ., 2018; Santos et al ., 2021 a ). In fact, during vacation periods, multiple vehicles are driven onto some of the touristic beaches and serious problems have been recorded, including accidents and traffic jams (Silva et al ., 2011; Pereira et al ., 2018).…”

“…The Amazon region has been undergoing rapid economic and urban growth in recent decades (Becker, 2005), and despite its singular environmental characteristics and high economic and ecological importance, anthropogenic impacts on the benthic fauna have been poorly studied (Paula et al ., 2007; Morais et al ., 2020; Pinto et al ., 2020; Ribeiro-Brasil et al ., 2021), and studies that evaluate the effect of recreational activities on Amazonian sandy beaches are even more scarce (Santos et al ., 2021 a ). In this context, the present study evaluated, for the first time, the impact of recreational activities on macrobenthic fauna structure and composition of three Amazonian sandy beaches with different levels of recreational activity intensity (high, intermediate and low), before, during and after a period with high tourist occupancy (July – scholar vacation).…”

Patterns of spatial and temporal distribution of the macrobenthic fauna on an estuarine macrotidal sandy beach on the Amazon coast (Brazil)

“…Despite its singular environmental characteristics and high economic (Santos et al., 2021) and ecological importance, the benthic fauna of these sandy beaches has been poorly studied, including its diversity and ecology. In general, studies have suggested that there is a vertical zonation of the benthic fauna and have argued that the presence and number of zones vary according to the morphodynamic state, being influenced by seasonal changes of environmental characteristics such as rainfall, wind, and wave regimes (Baia & Venekey, 2019; Gomes & Rosa Filho, 2009; Rosa Filho et al., 2009).…”