Nourished, Exposed Beaches Exhibit Altered Sediment Structure and Meiofaunal Communities.

ABSTRACT: To retain recreational uses and shoreline protection, a large proportion of ocean beaches have been, and continue to be, nourished. Adding sand from subtidal and terrestrial sources to nourish beaches rarely re-creates the original sediment structure of the beach. Numerous studies have demonstrated that meiofaunal communities are altered by changes in sediment composition in low-energy substrates, therefore, we have explored whether beach nourishment has affected exposed, ocean beach meiofaunal communities. Since the early 2000s, we have conducted a series of sampling and experimental studies on meiofauna and sediments on nourished beaches in coastal North Carolina USA that had been sampled previously in the early 1970s, prior to any beach nourishment. Most of our studies consider meiofaun

SUBMITTER: Fegley SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8221582 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature