Sandy Beaches “At the Brink”

An article from the newsletter of SeaWeb:

Sandy beaches dominate the world’s open coastlines; as prime sites for human recreation, they underpin many coastal economies. However, point out the authors of a recent study in the journal Diversity and Distributions, “beaches are not just piles of sand, they support a range of under-appreciated biodiversity.” A single beach can harbor several hundred species of invertebrates, for example. Beaches also provide ecological services, such as filtering large volumes of seawater, recycling nutrients, supporting coastal fisheries and providing critical habitats for endangered species such as sea turtles and birds.

However, observe Thomas A. Schlacher of Australia’s University of the Sunshine Coast and colleagues: “These unique ecosystems are facing escalating anthropogenic pressures, chiefly from rapacious coastal development, direct human uses—mainly associated with recreation—and rising sea levels. Beaches are increasingly becoming trapped in a ‘coastal squeeze’ between burgeoning human populations from the land and the effects of global climate change from the sea.”

Schlacher and colleagues argue that the limits of scientific understanding of how sandy beaches respond to the plethora of human threats are “emerging as crucial impediments for the conservation of these threatened systems.” They propose a number of broad research areas that they contend are critical to address those limits of scientific understanding. They conclude by arguing that innovative and interdisciplinary approaches, as well as public outreach, will be required for the conservation of sandy beaches worldwide.

Source: Schlacher, T.A., et al. 2007. Sandy beaches at the brink. Diversity and Distributions 13 (5): 556-560. DOI: 10.1111/j.1472-4642.2007.00363.x

Contact: Thomas A. Schlacher, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. E-mail: tschlach@usc.edu.au.