MT1.3 Sandy Shorelines

MT1. Shorelines biome

MT1

Profile summary

Full profile at https://global-ecosystems.org/explore/groups/MT1.3

Brief description

Beaches, sand bars and spits are exposed to waves and tides on moderate-high energy coasts, and rely on drift seaweed and surf-zone phytoplankton for nutrients. Polychaete worms, bivalve shellfish and a range of smaller invertebrates burrow in the shifting sediments, while larger vertebrate animals like seabirds, egg-laying turtles and scavenging foxes can also be found at various times. Storm tides and waves periodically restructure the sediments and profoundly influence the traits of the organisms living in these highly dynamic systems.

Key features

Intertidal soft-sediment, of large particle-size, lacking conspicuous macrophytes, and dominated by suspension-feeding invertebrates that provide a prey resource for shore birds and fishes.

Overview of distribution

Medium-high energy shorelines, particularly at temperate latitudes.

Map description

The indicative map of Sandy shorelines was based on point records of sandy coastlines mapped by Vousdoukas et al. (2020) aggregated to 1 degree spatial resolution. Cells with >50 points were reclassified as major occurrences, and those with 1-50 points were reclassified as minor occurrences. These were clipped to the coastline..

Map code and version: MT1.3.web.map v1.0. DOI

Version history

Profile versions

  • v2.1 (2022-04-06): MJ Bishop; SL McSweeney; DA Keith.1
  • v2.01 (NA): NA.
  • v2.0 (2020-05-28): MJ Bishop; SL McSweeney; DA Keith.
  • v1.0 (2020-01-20): MJ Bishop; NJ Murray; DA Keith.

Available maps

Read more details about the current map versions here.

  • Indicative Map (code: MT1.3.IM.grid, version v1.0)
  • Web navigation (code: MT1.3.web.map, version v1.0)

Read more details about older or alternative versions of maps for this functional group.

  • Indicative Map: discarded (code: MT1.3.IM.orig, version v1.0)
  • Web navigation: discarded (code: MT1.3.web.grid, version v1.0)
  • Web navigation: requires review (code: MT1.3.web.orig, version v1.0)
  • Web navigation: in preparation (code: MT1.3.WM.nwx, version v1.0)

References

Main references

References used in the different versions of the profiles.

  • Luijendijk A, Hagenaars G, Ranasinghe R, Baart F, Donchyts G, Aarninkhof S (2018) The State of the World’s Beaches Scientific reports 8(1) 6641 DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-24630-6
  • Schlacher TA, Schoeman DS, Dugan J, Lastra M, Jones A, Scapini F, McLachlan A. (2008) Sandy beach ecosystems: key features, sampling issues, management challenges and climate change impacts Marine Ecology 29(S1):70-90 DOI:10.1111/j.1439-0485.2007.00204.x

Map references

References used in the different versions of the maps (current and discarded).

  • Harris PT, Macmillan-Lawler M, Rupp J, Baker EK (2014) Geomorphology of the oceans. Marine Geology 352: 4-24. 10.1016/j.margeo.2014.01.011

  • Spalding MD, Fox HE, Allen GR, Davidson N, Ferdaña ZA, Finlayson M, Halpern BS, Jorge MA, Lombana A, Lourie SA, Martin KD, McManus E, Molnar J, Recchia CA, Robertson J (2007) Marine ecoregions of the world: a bioregionalization of coastal and shelf areas. Bioscience 57: 573–583. DOI:10.1641/B570707

  • Vousdoukas, M., Ranasinghe, R., Mentaschi, L., Plomaritis, T., Athanasiou, P., Luijendijk, A. and Feyen, L. (2020) Sandy coastlines under threat of erosion Nature Climate Change 10, 260–263 DOI:10.1038/s41558-020-0697-0

Footnotes

  1. This is the current version available at official site.↩︎