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The Ecology of Sandy Shores

The Ecology of Sandy Shores provides the students and researchers with a one-volume resource for understanding the conservation and management of the sandy shore ecosystem. Coveri… Read more

Description

The Ecology of Sandy Shores provides the students and researchers with a one-volume resource for understanding the conservation and management of the sandy shore ecosystem. Covering all beach types, and addressing issues from the behavioral and physiological adaptations of the biota to exploring the effects of pollution and the impact of man's activities, this book should become the standard reference for those interested in Sandy Shore study, management and preservation.

Key features

  • More than 25% expanded from the previous edition
  • Three entirely new chapters: Energetics and Nutrient Cycling, Turtles and Terrestrial Vertebrates, and Benthic Macrofauna Populations
  • New sections on the interstitial environment, seagrasses, human impacts and coastal zone management
  • Examples drawn from virtually all parts of the world, considering all beach types from the most exposed to the most sheltered

Readership

Senior undergraduate and postgraduate students in marine biology, researchers in marine and coastal ecology, coastal zone managers

Table of contents

1. Introduction


2. The Physical Environment

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Sand

2.3 Waves

2.4 Other drivers of water movement

2.5 Sand transport

2.6 Interactions between beach slope, waves, tides and sand

2.7 Beach indices

2.8 Beach types

2.9 Circulation cells and mixing

2.10 Embayments and headlands

2.11 Swash climate

2.12 Slope

2.13 Latitudinal effects

2.14 Conclusions


3. The Interstitial Environment

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Characteristics of the system

3.3 Processes of water input

3.4 Water filtration

3.5 Water table fluctuations

3.6 Interstitial chemistry

3.7 The interstitial environment

3.8 Conclusions


4. Beach and Surf Zone Flora

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Benthic microflora

4.3 Surf-zone phytoplankton

4.4 Seagrasses

4.5 Conclusions


5. Sandy Beach Invertebrates

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Important groups

5.3 Conclusions


6. Adaptation to Sandy Beach Life

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Locomotion

6.3 Rhythms of activity

6.4 Sensory responses and orientation

6.5 Choice of habitat

6.6 Nutrition

6.7 Respiration

6.8 Environmental tolerances

6.9 Reproduction

6.10 Aggregations and gregariousness

6.11 Avoidance of predators

6.12 Phenotypic plasticity

6.13 Conclusions


7. Benthic Macrofauna Communities

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Sampling

7.3 Taxonomic composition

7.4 Macroscale patterns

7.5 Mesoscale patterns

7.6 Microscale patterns

7.7 Trophic relations

7.8 Conclusions


8. Benthic Macrofauna Populations

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Macroscale patterns

8.3 Mesoscale patterns

8.4 Microscale patterns

8.5 Invertebrate fisheries

8.6 Conclusions


9. Interstitial Ecology

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Interstitial climate

9.3 Sampling

9.4 Interstitial biota

9.5 Distribution of interstitial fauna

9.6 Temporal changes

9.7 Meiofaunal communities

9.8 Trophic relations

9.9 Biological interactions

9.10 Meiofauna and pollution

9.11 Conclusions


10. Surf Zone Fauna

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Zooplankton

10.3 Fishes

10.4 Other groups

10.5 Conclusions


11. Turtles and Terrestrial Vertebrates

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Turtles

11.3 Birds

11.4 Conclusions


12. Energetics and Nutrient Cycling

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Food sources

12.3 Macroscopic food chains

12.4 Interstitial food chains

12.5 The microbial loop in surf waters

12.6 Energy flow in beach and surf-zone ecosystems

12.7 Case study: sandy beaches of the Eastern Cape

12.8 Nutrient cycling

12.9 Conclusions


13. Coastal Dune Ecosystems and Dune-beach Interactions

13.1 Introduction

13.2 The physical environment

13.3 Coastal dune formation by vegetation

13.4 Dune types

13.5 Edaphic features

13.6 Water

13.7 The gradient across coastal dunefields

13.8 Dune vegetation

13.9 The fauna

13.10 Food chains

13.11 Dune/beach exchanges

13.12 A case study of dune/beach exchanges

13.13 Conclusions


14. Human Impacts

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Pollution

14.3 Recreational activities

14.4 Global warming

14.5 Direct human pressure

14.6 Altering the landscape

14.7 Natural impacts

14.8 Human influence on the evolution of beaches

14.9 Conclusions


15. Coastal Zone Management

15.1 Introduction

15.2 The littoral active zone

15.3 Summary of threats

15.4 Principles of coastal zone management

15.5 Management, planning and implementation

15.6 Case studies

15.7 Conservation

15.8 Conclusions


16. Glossary


17. References


18. Appendices
Appendix 1. Measures of beach type
Appendix 2. The chemical environment of sediments

Product details

About the authors

AB

A.C. Brown

Affiliations and expertise
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, & University of Cape Town, South Africa

AM

Anton McLachlan

Dr McLachlan has had a long and established career in beach ecology. He has worked around the world and has headed up multiple departments and research institutions including: the Director for the Institute for Coastal Research, Chair of the Dept. of Zoology and has held a number of Dean positions at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. He has over 90 publications to date.
Affiliations and expertise
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa

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