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Effects of beach cast cleaning on beach quality, microbial food web, and littoral macrofaunal biodiversity

Malm, T ; Råberg, S ; Fell, S and Carlsson, Per LU (2004) In Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 60(2). p.339-347
Abstract
At the end of the summer, drifting filamentous red algae cover shallow bottoms and accumulate in huge cast walls on the open shores of the non-tidal central Baltic Sea. The hypotheses that beach cleaning increases water clarity, decreases the organic content of the sand, and increases the species diversity in the shallow zone closest to the shore, were tested through field investigations and experiments. Cleaned shorelines were compared with un-cleaned shorelines at two sites with different intensity of beach cleaning in a rural area of SE Sweden. The results show that water clarity was significantly increased off the intensively cleaned beach but not off the moderately cleaned one. Similarly, the total leakage of nitrogenous compounds... (More)
At the end of the summer, drifting filamentous red algae cover shallow bottoms and accumulate in huge cast walls on the open shores of the non-tidal central Baltic Sea. The hypotheses that beach cleaning increases water clarity, decreases the organic content of the sand, and increases the species diversity in the shallow zone closest to the shore, were tested through field investigations and experiments. Cleaned shorelines were compared with un-cleaned shorelines at two sites with different intensity of beach cleaning in a rural area of SE Sweden. The results show that water clarity was significantly increased off the intensively cleaned beach but not off the moderately cleaned one. Similarly, the total leakage of nitrogenous compounds decreased off the intensively cleaned beach, but not off the moderately cleaned. The organic content of the sand was lower on both cleaned beaches compared with nearby un-cleaned beaches. The total animal biomass was significantly lower on the intensively cleaned beach compared with the un-cleaned beach, but the moderately cleaned beach gave no such effect. The difference in biodiversity and community structure between cleaned and un-cleaned beaches was insignificant. The most obvious difference in species composition was a much higher number of planktivore opossum shrimps of the genus Mysis and Praunus on the un-cleaned beaches. The bacterial production and the amount of ciliates larger than 20 mm were also higher on un-cleaned beaches, indicating that the microbial food web off the un-cleaned beaches is stimulated by the discharge of decomposing algal material. The conclusion of the study is that mechanical cleaning reduces the organic content of the beach sand and may change the water quality and microbial production, but the effect on the macrofaunal biodiversity is insignificant. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
volume
60
issue
2
pages
339 - 347
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000221591200015
  • scopus:2542473541
ISSN
1096-0015
DOI
10.1016/j.ecss.2004.01.008
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c196480a-f04e-4471-bca4-3051b054f99d (old id 153093)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:55:29
date last changed
2022-04-20 23:52:41
@article{c196480a-f04e-4471-bca4-3051b054f99d,
  abstract     = {{At the end of the summer, drifting filamentous red algae cover shallow bottoms and accumulate in huge cast walls on the open shores of the non-tidal central Baltic Sea. The hypotheses that beach cleaning increases water clarity, decreases the organic content of the sand, and increases the species diversity in the shallow zone closest to the shore, were tested through field investigations and experiments. Cleaned shorelines were compared with un-cleaned shorelines at two sites with different intensity of beach cleaning in a rural area of SE Sweden. The results show that water clarity was significantly increased off the intensively cleaned beach but not off the moderately cleaned one. Similarly, the total leakage of nitrogenous compounds decreased off the intensively cleaned beach, but not off the moderately cleaned. The organic content of the sand was lower on both cleaned beaches compared with nearby un-cleaned beaches. The total animal biomass was significantly lower on the intensively cleaned beach compared with the un-cleaned beach, but the moderately cleaned beach gave no such effect. The difference in biodiversity and community structure between cleaned and un-cleaned beaches was insignificant. The most obvious difference in species composition was a much higher number of planktivore opossum shrimps of the genus Mysis and Praunus on the un-cleaned beaches. The bacterial production and the amount of ciliates larger than 20 mm were also higher on un-cleaned beaches, indicating that the microbial food web off the un-cleaned beaches is stimulated by the discharge of decomposing algal material. The conclusion of the study is that mechanical cleaning reduces the organic content of the beach sand and may change the water quality and microbial production, but the effect on the macrofaunal biodiversity is insignificant.}},
  author       = {{Malm, T and Råberg, S and Fell, S and Carlsson, Per}},
  issn         = {{1096-0015}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{339--347}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science}},
  title        = {{Effects of beach cast cleaning on beach quality, microbial food web, and littoral macrofaunal biodiversity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2004.01.008}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ecss.2004.01.008}},
  volume       = {{60}},
  year         = {{2004}},
}