Threats to sandy beach ecosystems: A review

Defeo, Omar; McLachlan, Anton; Schoeman, David S.; Schlacher, Thomas A.; Dugan, Jenifer E.; Jones, Alan R.; Lastra, Mariano; Scapini, Felicita

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2008.09.022

Cited by 941 publications

(617 citation statements)

References 148 publications

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“…According to Defeo et al (2009), the composition and abundance of the macrobenthic communities of sandy beaches are controlled primarily by the physical environment, intertidal swash and sediment characteristics, and these factors are harsher on reflective than dissipative beaches. The Autoecological Hypothesis (AH) (NOY-MEIR, 1979) postulates that in physically controlled environments, communities are but little influenced by interspecific relationships, each species responding independently to the environmental factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human impact on the benthic macrofauna of two beach environments with different morphodynamic characteristics in southern Brazil

et al. 2012

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A B S T R A C TPollution, exploitation of resources, erosion and recreational activities produce the most common impacts that somehow alter the natural balance of beach ecosystems. The aim of this study was to compare the richness and abundance of the benthic macrofauna of two sectors, one non-urbanized and the other urbanized, on each of two morphodynamically different beaches. Sectors of each beach were analyzed taking into account morphodynamic, anthropogenic (recreational activities) and ecological aspects. Morphodynamically, one of the beaches presented sediment formed of fine sand with a gentle slope and morphodynamism with dissipative characteristics. The other was of sediment formed of medium sand with a steep profile and of intermediate to reflective morphodynamic characteristics. On both beaches during the summer, the urbanized sector was frequented by a greater number of users than the non-urbanized sector. On the beach with dissipative morphodynamism, negative relationships were observed between user abundance and the species Bledius bonariensis, Donax hanleyanus, Thoracophelia furcifera, Excirolana armata, Phoxocephalopsis sp. and Tholozodium rhombofrontalis. On the beach with intermediate to reflective morphodynamics, low abundances of Atlantorchestoidea brasiliensis and Excirolana braziliensis were recorded in the urbanized sector. Thus the results of this study suggest the use of certain species as indicators of human impacts on beach ecosystems. R E S U M OPoluição, exploração de recursos, erosão e atividades recreativas são os impactos mais comuns que de alguma forma alteram o equilíbrio natural do ecossistema praial. O objetivo deste trabalho foi comparar a riqueza e a abundância da macrofauna bentônica entre um setor não urbanizado e outro urbanizado de duas praias morfodinamicamente distintas. Os setores de cada praia foram analisados levando em consideração aspectos morfodinâmicos, antrópicos (atividades recreativas) e ecológicos. Morfodinamicamente, uma das praias apresentou sedimentos formados por areia fina, suave inclinação e morfodinamismo com características dissipativas. A outra praia apresentou sedimentos formados por areia média, perfil íngreme e características morfodinâmicas entre intermediárias a refletivas. Em ambas as praias, durante o verão, o setor urbanizado apresentou maior abundância de usuários do que o setor não urbanizado. Na praia com morfodinamismo dissipativo, relações negativas foram observadas entre a abundância de usuários e a dos organismos Bledius bonariensis, Donax hanleyanus, Thoracophelia furcifera, Excirolana armata, Phoxocephalopsis sp. e Tholozodium rhombofrontalis. Já na praia com morfodinamismo intermediário a refletivo, foram registradas baixas abundâncias de Atlantorchestoidea brasiliensis e Excirolana braziliensis no setor urbanizado. Assim, os resultados do presente estudo sugerem a utilização de algumas espécies como indicadores de impactos antrópicos nos ecossistemas praiais.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Changes in the composition of beach macrobenthic communities are also to be expected along the gradient of exposure, with crustaceans predominating on reflective beaches, while polychaetes, more sensitive to exposure to waves and coarse sediments, dominating on most dissipative beaches (DEFEO; DEFEO et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human impact on the benthic macrofauna of two beach environments with different morphodynamic characteristics in southern Brazil

et al. 2012

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“…Exposed sandy beaches are not an exception and during the last decades, these ecosystems have been subjected to severe and increasing pressures in most countries, as a result of conflicting uses such as coastal development, environmental pollution, and intensive tourism, among other coastal disturbances (review in Defeo et al, 2009) as those documented in the Portuguese coast (Veloso-Gomes and Taveira-Pinto, 2003;Coelho et al, 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Superimposed on these trends of coastal impacts is the predicted increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme natural phenomena (e.g. storms) due to the effects of global climate change that can dramatically affect the fauna and flora of ocean-exposed sandy beaches (Brown and McLachlan, 2002;Defeo et al, 2009;Dugan et al, 2010;Schlacher et al, 2007Schlacher et al, , 2008b.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal changes in macrofauna as response indicator to potential human pressures on sandy beaches

Bessa

Gonçalves

Franco

et al. 2014

Ecological Indicators

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a b s t r a c tSandy beaches are natural dynamic ecosystems, which are becoming worldwide increasingly disturbed by intensive human direct use, coastal development and erosive evolution. In this study, we have examined whether ten years of potential increased human pressures have resulted in significant changes in the macrofaunal assemblages' structure and composition of two mesotidal sandy beaches (Cabedelourban beach, and Quiaios -rural beach) on the European Atlantic coast (Portugal). Seasonal macrofauna collections were performed at both beaches in two different periods, one in 1999-2000 and another in 2010-2011. The physical variables did not change significantly in both beaches throughout the studied periods, however, the urban beach was subject to an increase of human pressures (tourism and shoreline modifications) over the 10-years interval considered when compared with the rural beach. The univariate community descriptors (total density, species richness and diversity) did not differ significantly among periods for the rural beach. In contrast, temporal differences were found at the most urbanised beach, principally regarding the abundances of the amphipod Talitrus saltator and the isopod Tylos europaeus, two of the most abundant species at both beaches. PERMANOVA tests enhanced these temporal variations and the SIMPER analysis attributed to these species the main differences found between periods in this beach. Since the physical environment was similar in both periods, the ecological changes were most likely attributed to the increased human pressures observed at the urban beach. Nevertheless, this study highlights the need of further robust and effective impact assessments and long-term studies to better discern between natural and human induced changes on sandy beaches.

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“…To slow down this trend, an active management has become necessary for most coastal zones. Currently, managers involved in coastal defence tend to focus on physical and geomorphological features (James, 2000;Micallef and Williams, 2002), despite more and more evidences have been accumulated of ecological change in beach ecosystems due to human interventions (Brown and McLachlan, 2002;Defeo et al, 2009;Dugan et al, 2010;Jones et al, 2007;Schlacher et al, 2007Schlacher et al, , 2008. Sandy beaches are dynamic habitats, with specialised living communities structured mainly by physical forces (Defeo and McLachlan, 2005;McLachlan and Brown, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macrofaunal community abundance and diversity and talitrid orientation as potential indicators of ecological long-term effects of a sand-dune recovery intervention

Nourisson

Bessa

Scapini

et al. 2014

Ecological Indicators

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a b s t r a c tIn the last decades the increasing urban development on coastal areas have produced extensive modifications on shores all over the world, making critical the active management of pressures on sandy beaches. The use of engineering solutions to counteract beach erosion has been significantly increasing; the ecological indicators used to monitor these interventions generally focus on short-and medium-term effects, while little is known on their effectiveness on long-term temporal scales. The following ecological indicators have been tested in the present study: (a) macrofaunal community abundance and diversity and (b) orientation behaviour of Talitrus saltator, a talitrid amphipod widespread on Mediterranean and European Atlantic sandy beaches. Two sites were considered on a sandy beach of the Portuguese Atlantic coast, one located in front of a natural dune and the other at about 500 m of distance, where the dune had been rebuilt between 2000 and 2008 using geotextile tubes. In 2011 and 2012, macrofauna sampling and orientation experiments on T. saltator were performed at both sites in spring and autumn; contemporaneously the main environmental variables were registered. Macrofaunal data were analysed through multivariate statistical tests, and for the orientation distributions the circular statistics were calculated and multivariate analyses for angular data were performed. Geotextiles appeared to be successful in stabilising the recovered dunes; accordingly, the diversity of the macrofaunal communities and the orientation performances of T. saltator showed no differences between the altered and control sites. Significant reductions were nevertheless observed in the artificial-dune site regarding the abundance of T. saltator and, to a lesser extent, macrofaunal densities, likely ascribable to the presence of geotextiles instead of a vegetated natural dune, preventing invertebrates to burrow into the sand. These results, complementing a more comprehensive study on these two sites, indicate the abundance of T. saltator as the best indicator to follow long-term effects of this kind of soft-engineering intervention. The use of this bioindicator may be recommended for the late phases of monitoring procedures in dune-recovery processes.

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Threats to sandy beach ecosystems: A review

Cited by 941 publications

References 148 publications

Human impact on the benthic macrofauna of two beach environments with different morphodynamic characteristics in southern Brazil

Human impact on the benthic macrofauna of two beach environments with different morphodynamic characteristics in southern Brazil

Temporal changes in macrofauna as response indicator to potential human pressures on sandy beaches

Macrofaunal community abundance and diversity and talitrid orientation as potential indicators of ecological long-term effects of a sand-dune recovery intervention

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