Effect of upper beach macrofauna on nutrient cycling of sandy beaches: metabolic rates during wrack decay

Gómez, Marina; Barreiro, Francisco; López, J.; Lastra, Mariano

doi:10.1007/s00227-018-3392-1

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…If sand dunes are included in the analysis, the potential would increase, as the plants of vegetated dunes and adjacent coastal forests are able to sequester carbon at a rapid rate (Beaumont et al 2014 ). However, several studies reported that beach wrack might be a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) like carbon dioxide and methane (Misson 2020 ; Rodil et al 2019 ; Goméz et al 2018 ). In conclusion, beaches as land-sea interface possibly play a more important role in carbon cycling than expected.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As primary producers like micro-and macroalgae or seagrass grow in nearshore waters and use nutrients, their service potential is correlated with processing and remineralization of organic material and accumulation of dissolved nutrients. Other studies also emphasize the importance of sandy beaches for nutrient cycling across habitats (Barreiro et al 2013;Rodil et al 2019;Gómez et al 2018). Litter was assessed to increase the service potential slightly (+1) of dispersal of seeds (RM9), while the flow was decreasing due to possible entanglement (−1) (Kiessling et al 2015).…”

Section: Scenario 3-combined Beach Wrack and Litter Accumulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Impact Assessment of Beach Wrack and Litter on Beach Ecosystem Services to Support Coastal Management at the Baltic Sea

Robbe

Woelfel

Balčiūnas

et al. 2021

Environmental Management

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As accumulation zones, sandy beaches are temporal sinks for beach wrack and litter, both often seen as nuisances to tourists. Consequently, there is a need for beach management and an enhanced political interest to evaluate their ecosystem services. We applied a new online multidisciplinary assessment approach differentiating between the provision, potential, and flow at German and Lithuanian beaches (Southern Baltic Sea). We selected a set of services and assessed four beach scenarios developed accordingly to common management measures (different beach wrack and litter accumulations). We conducted comparative assessments involving 39 external experts using spread-sheets and workshops, an online survey as well as a combined data-based approach. Results indicated the relative importance of cultural (52.2%), regulating and maintenance (37.4%), and provisioning services (10.4%). Assessed impact scores showed that the removal of beach wrack is not favorable with regard to the overall ecosystem service provision. Contrarily, the removal of litter can increase the service flow significantly. When removing beach wrack, synergies between services should be used, i.e., use of biomass as material or further processing. However, trade-offs prevail between cultural services and the overall provision of beach ecosystem services (i.e., coastal protection and biodiversity). We recommend developing new and innovative beach cleaning techniques and procedures, i.e., different spatio-temporal patterns, e.g., mechanical vs. manually, daily vs. on-demand, whole beach width vs. patches. Our fast and easy-to-apply assessment approach can support decision-making processes within sustainable coastal management allowing us to show and compare the impacts of measures from a holistic ecosystem services perspective.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Scenario 3-combined Beach Wrack and Litter Accumulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Impact Assessment of Beach Wrack and Litter on Beach Ecosystem Services to Support Coastal Management at the Baltic Sea

Robbe

Woelfel

Balčiūnas

et al. 2021

Environmental Management

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“…2013, Dufour et al 2012, Eereveld et al 2013, Lastra et al 2014, G omez et al 2018, Rodil et al 2019, Haram et al 2020. These types of experiments are conducted mostly on sandy shore ecosystems, but similar degradation experiments have been conducted in benthic subtidal habitats (de Bettignies et al 2020, estuarine sandflats (Gladstone-Gallagher et al 2016), and in specific seabed hollows where algal blades are known to accumulate (Norkko et al 2004).…”

Section: Must Be In Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whole System Analysis Is Required To Determine The Fate Of Macroalgal Carbon: A Systematic Review

Dolliver

O’Connor

2022

Journal of Phycology

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The role of marine primary producers in capturing atmospheric CO2 has received increased attention in the global mission to mitigate climate change. Yet, our understanding of carbon sequestration performed by macroalgae has been limited to a relatively small number of studies that have estimated the ultimate fate of macroalgal‐derived carbon. This systematic review was conducted to provide a timely synthesis of the methods used to determine the fate of macroalgal carbon in this rapidly expanding research area. It also aimed to provide suggestions for more effective future research. We found that the most common methods to estimate the fate of macroalgal carbon can be categorized into groups based on those that quantify: (i) export of macroalgal carbon to other environments—known as horizontal transport; (ii) sequestration of macroalgal carbon into deep‐sea sediments—known as vertical transport; (iii) burial of macroalgal carbon directly beneath a benthic community; (iv) the loss of macroalgal carbon as particulate carbon or dissolved carbon to the water column; (v) the loss of macroalgal carbon to primary consumers; and finally (vi) those studies that combined multiple methods in one location. Based on this review, several recommendations for future research were formulated, which require the combination of multiple methods in a whole system analysis approach.

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“…Wrack accumulations represent peak hotspots for biogeochemical processes as indicated by high metabolic rates that release high levels of CO2 (Coupland et al, 2007;Gómez et al, 2018). Indeed, CO2 production by wrack accumulations on beaches can surpass the most active soils on Earth (Gómez et al, 2018). Similarly, wrack on beaches can be three times more metabolically active than subtidal seagrass or macroalgal beds (e.g.…”

Section: (D) Nutrient Fluxes and Chemical Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flotsam and jetsam: a global review of the role of inputs of marine organic matter in sandy beach ecosystems

Hyndes¹,

Berdan²,

Duarte³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Sandy beaches are iconic interfaces that functionally link the ocean with the land by the flow of marine organic matter. These cross-ecosystem fluxes often comprise uprooted seagrass and dislodged macroalgae that can form substantial accumulations of detritus, termed ‘wrack’, on sandy beaches. In addition, the tissue of the carcasses of marine animals that regularly wash up on beaches form a rich food source (‘carrion’) for a diversity of scavenging animals. Here, we provide a global review of how wrack and carrion provide spatial subsidies that shape the structure and functioning of sandy beach ecosystems (sandy beaches and adjacent surf zones), which typically have little in situ primary production. We also examime the spatial scaling of the influence of these processes across the broader seascape and landscape, and identify key gaps in our knowledge to guide future research directions and priorities. Globally, large quantities of detrital kelp and seagrass can flow into sandy beach ecosystems, where microbial decomposers and animals remineralise and consume the imported organic matter. The supply and retention of wrack are influenced by the oceanographic processes that transport it, the geomorphology and landscape context of the recipient beaches, and the condition, life history and morphological characteristics of the taxa that are the ultimate source of wrack. When retained in beach ecosystems, wrack often creates hotspots of microbial metabolism, secondary productivity, biodiversity, and nutrient remineralization. Nutrients are produced during wrack break-down, and these can return to coastal waters in surface flows (swash) and the aquifier discharging into the subtidal surf. Beach-cast kelp often plays a key trophic role, being an abundant and preferred food source for mobile, semi-aquatic invertebrates that channel imported algal matter to predatory invertebrates, fish, and birds. The role of beach-cast marine carrion is likely to be underestimated, as it can be consumed rapidly by highly mobile scavengers (e.g. foxes, coyotes, raptors, vultures). These consumers become important vectors in transferring marine productivity inland, thereby linking marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Whilst deposits of organic matter on sandy beach ecosystems underpin a range of ecosystem functions and services, these can be at variance with aesthetic perceptions resulting in widespread activities, such ‘beach cleaning and grooming’. This practice diminishes the energetic base of food webs, intertidal fauna, and biodiversity. Global declines in seagrass beds and kelp forests (linked to global warming) are predicted to cause substantial reductions in the amounts of marine organic matter reaching many beach ecosystems, likely causing flow-on effects on food webs and biodiversity. Similarly, future sea-level rise and stormier seas are likely to profoundly alter the physical attributes of beaches, which in turn can change the rates at which beaches retain and process the influxes of wrack and animal carcasses. Conservation of the multi-faceted ecosystem services that sandy beaches provide will increasingly need to encompass a greater societal appreciation and the safeguarding of ecological functions reliant on beach-cast organic matter on innumerable ocean shores worldwide.

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Effect of upper beach macrofauna on nutrient cycling of sandy beaches: metabolic rates during wrack decay

Cited by 17 publications

References 49 publications

An Impact Assessment of Beach Wrack and Litter on Beach Ecosystem Services to Support Coastal Management at the Baltic Sea

An Impact Assessment of Beach Wrack and Litter on Beach Ecosystem Services to Support Coastal Management at the Baltic Sea

Whole System Analysis Is Required To Determine The Fate Of Macroalgal Carbon: A Systematic Review

Flotsam and jetsam: a global review of the role of inputs of marine organic matter in sandy beach ecosystems

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