Open AccessJournal Article
Dissipative Beaches and Macrofauna Communities on Exposed Intertidal Sands
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TLDR
In this article, the intertidal fauna of exposed sandy beaches occupy four distinct zones and that dissipative (flat) beaches support faunas of high abundance and diversity.Abstract:
This study was undertaken primarily to test the hypotheses that (I) the intertidal fauna of exposed sandy beaches occupy four distinct zones and (2) that dissipative (flat) beaches support faunas of high abundance and diversity. The benthic macrofauna of three high energy, dissipative beaches on the Oregon coast was quantitatively surveyed and found to comprise an assemblage of 16-21 species and 50-290*10 9 individuals per meter per beach. This fauna exhibited zonation four zones being distinguished by 3-4 characteristic species each. Zonation appeared to be related to both interstitial moisture levels in the sand at low tide and tide levels or inundation times. These data together with similar data from a range of beaches in southern Africa and western Australia were analyzed for changes in faunal diversity, total abundance and biomass and mean individual mass in response to physical changes in sand particle size, wave height, beach slope and beach type. The biological parameters showed good correlations with all the physical parameters, but beach slope and type gave the best fits for abundance and diversity. Biomass was however best correlated with wave energy. This is interpreted as meaning (l) that wave energy which may control surf zone productivity and food availability, controls intertidal biomass and (2) that although sand particle size and wave climate may have some direct effects the type of fauna developing on a beach is primarily determined by the total swash "climate" of the beach face as reflected in beach slope and beach type.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The response of macrofauna communities and shorebirds to macrophyte wrack subsidies on exposed sandy beaches of southern California
TL;DR: The results suggest that macrophyte wrack subsidies strongly influence macrofaunal community structure, higher trophic levels, and ecological processes on exposed sandy beaches.
Journal ArticleDOI
Patterns, processes and regulatory mechanisms in sandy beach macrofauna: a multi-scale analysis
Omar Defeo,Anton McLachlan +1 more
TL;DR: This synthesis suggests that biological interactions are more important regu- latory agents than previously thought in benign dissipa- tive beaches or undisturbed sites, intra- and interspecific competition can be more intense than in reflective beach- es or disturbed sites, where the populations are physi- cally controlled.
Journal ArticleDOI
Community Regulation: Under What Conditions Are Bottom-Up Factors Important on Rocky Shores?
TL;DR: In this paper, the bottom-up processes can underlie variations in community structure that can have important consequences for the influence of top-down factors (e.g., trophic interactions) or bottom-down effects control communities.
Journal ArticleDOI
Global Patterns in Sandy Beach Macrobenthic Communities
Anton McLachlan,Atsu S.S. Dorvlo +1 more
TL;DR: The data from 161 quantitative sandy beach transect surveys from a wide variety of locations were examined to identify trends and relationships between total marine macrofauna species richness, abundance, and biomass and physical variables as mentioned in this paper.
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
Ronel Nel,Eileen E. Campbell,Linda R. Harris,Lorenz Hauser,David S. Schoeman,Anton McLachlan,Karien Bezuidenhout,Thomas A. Schlacher +7 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify and outline the broad ecological paradigms in sandy beach science, report on a citation analysis of the published literature of the past 63 years (1950e2013) to provide context regarding the topics and location of research, the size and institutional composition of the research teams; and investigate whether beach ecology can and has been incorporated into integrated coastal zone management practices.
References
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Book ChapterDOI
11. Paradigms, Explanations, and Generalizations in Models for the Structure of Intertidal Communities on Rocky Shores
A. J. Underwood,E. J. Denley +1 more
Journal ArticleDOI
The Ecological Significance of the Submarine Discharge of Groundwater
TL;DR: Data are presented indicating that in the Perth region of Western Australia, submarine groundwater discharge delivers several times as much pollution to coastal waters as does river runoff.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Relationship Between Sphere Size And Settling Velocity
TL;DR: In this paper, the settling velocities in water of 216 glass spheres ranging in size from 50mu to 5000mu in diameter were determined and an empirical equation was derived to give the relationship between sphere size and settling velocity.
Book ChapterDOI
Predation, Competitive Exclusion, and Diversity in the Soft-Sediment Benthic Communities of Estuaries and Lagoons
TL;DR: A review of experiments in which large, epibenthic predators are excluded from soft-sediment marine benthic communities in unvegetated portions of estuaries and lagoons and a comparison of grassbeds, where predators on the infauna are less effective, demonstrate that such soft- sediment systems, when freed from predation, usually exhibit an increase in total density, a increase in species richness, and no tendency toward competitive exclusion by some dominant species as mentioned in this paper.