Differences in perception and reaction of tourist groups to beach marine debris that can influence a loss of tourism revenue in coastal areas

Marine debris is the most conspicuous pollutant that makes beaches aesthetically unappealing to users. The perceptions and reactions of beach users to stranded litter were compared between second-home owners and users (SHOU) and non-recurrent tourists (T). A questionnaire was applied to obtain socio-economic characteristics; assessment of the overall beach quality and perception of beach litter pollution (perception); hypothetical scenarios of marine litter pollution and deterrence (reaction); and potential alternative destinations in the case of deterrence (economic effect). Questionnaires (n = 319) were applied at two Brazilian subtropical beaches, with different physiographical settings (Pontal do Sul, PS, estuarine beach; Ipanema, I, open-ocean beach). Beach users’ groups differed regarding daily expenses (T > SHOU), period of permanence per trip (SHOU > T) and trip frequency (SHOU > T). The open-ocean beach (I) was rated the worst regarding overall beach quality. Marine debris generation was mainly attributed to local “beach users”, in the open-ocean beach (I). “Marine” (or non-local) sources were four times more frequently cited in the estuarine beach (PS). Perception on actual litter pollution and litter deterrence scenarios, did not vary between beaches or groups. More than 85% of beachgoers would avoid a beach visit if a worst scenario (> 15items/m²) occurred and most users would choose a neighboring state beach destination. Stranded litter may potentially reduce local tourism income by 39.1%, representing losses of up to US$ 8.5 million per year. These figures are proxies to support the trade-off local authority's make between investments to prevent/remove beach litter and the potential reduction in income from a tourist destination change.     

Accumulation of plastic litter on beaches of Amchitka Island,Alaska

Between 1972 and 1974 plastic marine litter on ten 1-km beaches at Amchitka Island increased from 2,221 to 5,367 items—a 2·4 x increase in a two-year period. Most litter originated from Japanese and Soviet fishing vessels, but some items were from the Asian coast, at least 1,150 km distant. In 1974 there were 345 kg of common items of plastic litter per kilometre of beach. In 1972, an estimated 1,664 metric tons of plastic litter was lost or dumped from fishing vessels in the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean. Stranded plastic litter persists indefinitely but rapidly becomes buried in beach material or is blown inland and covered with vegetation. The most serious environmental impact is probably entanglement of marine mammals and birds in some types of litter. The accelerating accumulation of litter could be reduced through unilateral action by countries that regulate coastal fishing privileges if these countries make litter control a condition for permission to fish.     

乡村海滩旅游资源质量评价的建立——以雷州半岛为例

我国海滩旅游资源开发程度不高,还存在大量的优质乡村海滩资源未被利用,具有巨大的潜在经济价值和社会效益,是未来海滨旅游开发的重点。对旅游海滩质量进行科学评价是海滩开发的重要基础工作之一。国内外成熟的海滩质量评价体系侧重于滨海旅游的舒适性和服务完善性,比较适合于开发完善的城市旅游海滩,目前没有针对乡村旅游海滩资源的质量评价体系。本文结合了国内外海滩资源质量评价的研究方法,根据乡村海滩旅游海滩的独特性,从资源开发潜力、资源自然条件、海滩沉积动力特征及安全性3类评价因素19个评价因子,建立了乡村海滩旅游资源质量评价指标体系和乡村海滩旅游资源质量分类体系。结合现场调查数据,利用该评价体系对雷州半岛沿岸18个乡村海滩进行了质量评价和分类。结果表明该海滩质量评价体系可为乡村海滩资源的综合利用、保护和开发提供理论和技术支持。最后,分析指出在海滩质量评价体系中引入地形动力理论,对海滩裂流安全性因子进行评价的重要性。     

The recreational use of beaches and consequences for the development of new trends in management: the case of the beaches of the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain)

This article offers some reflections on beach management, on the basis of the results of a survey on the recreational use of beaches and beach users' perception, which was carried out in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona in 1992. The first part outlines the situation of the beaches, recent metropolitan beach policy and the organization of administrative bodies responsible for beach management. Survey objectives and methods are also explained briefly. In the second part, the principal results of the survey are presented and different beaches are compared in an attempt to analyse the types of users, the uses they make and the perception they have of the beaches. The conclusions identify new emerging social needs which demonstrate that new trends in beach management are also needed. Practical recommendations, related to this emerging perception of beaches as natural systems, are suggested.     

Mapping beach morphodynamics remotely: A novel application tested on South African sandy shores

Sandy beaches have been identified as threatened ecosystems but despite the need to conserve them, they have been generally overlooked. Systematic conservation planning (SCP) has emerged as an efficient method of selecting areas for conservation priority. However, SCP analyses require digital shapefiles of habitat and species diversity. Mapping these attributes for beaches from field data can take years and requires exhaustive resources. This study thus sought to derive a methodology to classify and map beach morphodynamic types from satellite imagery. Since beach morphodynamics is a strong predictor of macrofauna diversity, they could be considered a good surrogate for mapping beach biodiversity. A dataset was generated for 45 microtidal beaches (of known morphodynamic type) by measuring or coding for several physical characteristics from imagery acquired from Google Earth. Conditional inference trees revealed beach width to be the only factor that significantly predicted beach morphodynamic type, giving four categories: dissipative, dissipative-intermediate, intermediate and reflective. The derived model was tested by using it to predict the morphodynamic type of 28 other beaches of known classification. Model performance was good (75% prediction accuracy) but misclassifications occurred at the three breaks between the four categories. For beaches around these breaks, consideration of surf zone characteristics in addition to beach width ameliorated the misclassifications. The final methodology yielded a 93% prediction accuracy of beach morphodynamic type. Overlaying other considerations on this classification scheme could provide additional value to the layer, such that it also describes species’ spatial patterns. These could include: biogeographic regions, estuarine versus sandy beaches and short versus long beaches. The classification scheme was applied to the South African shoreline as a case study. The distribution of the beach morphodynamic types was partly influenced by geography. Most of the long, dissipative beaches are found along the west coast of the country, the south coast beaches are mostly dissipative-intermediate, and the east coast beaches range from short, estuarine pocket and embayed beaches in the former Transkei (south east), to longer intermediate and reflective beaches in KwaZulu-Natal (in the north east). Once combined with the three biogeographic regions, and distinguishing between estuarine and sandy shores, the South African coast comprised 24 different beach types. Representing shorelines in this form opens up potential for numerous spatial analyses that can not only further our understanding of sandy beach ecology at large spatial scales but also aid in deriving conservation strategies for this threatened ecosystem.     

浙江海岛沙滩质量评价体系及其应用研究

在参考国内外主要沙滩质量评价体系的基础上,结合浙江省海岛沙滩的具体状况,构建了适用于浙江省海岛沙滩的质量评价体系,包括3大类7个亚类共29个因子。运用该体系对浙江海岛63个沙滩进行了评价,结果显示浙江海岛沙滩质量总体处于中等水平,其中五星级沙滩有7个,四星级沙滩有19个,三星级沙滩有29个,二星级沙滩有8个,表明该评价体系具有较好的适用性。     

Development and management of a coastal litter campaign: The voluntary coastal partnership approach

The Forth Estuary Forum's Coastal Litter Campaign aimed to develop and implement a community involvement and public awareness-raising programme intended to tackle and monitor the issue of marine litter in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. Beach cleans are an excellent public participation exercise, focusing the public's attention on the issue of marine litter and creating a sense of environmental responsibility. Raising public awareness is the only guaranteed way of reducing marine litter. A combination of education, provision of adequate waste reception facilities and enforcement of legislation is needed to tackle beach litter.     

The distribution and behaviour of tar balls along the Israeli coast

A fortnightly sampling of tar balls on six beaches along the Israeli coastline between 14 April 1975 and 25 June 1976 showed that the mean content of tar during that period was 3625 g m^?1 of beach front. The northern and central parts of the coast were significantly more polluted than the southern part. Between July 1975 and February 1976 the mean tar quantity decreased continuously from 5635 to 1344 g m^?1.A comparison of tar quantities on the Israeli beaches with those of other beaches in the world showed that the Israeli beaches are more polluted than those of the west Atlantic coast, are as polluted as other beaches on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and are less polluted than the beaches of Alexandria, Egypt, and Paphos, Cyprus. It is suggested that the tar content on the beach is related to the degree of oil pollution in the sea. The closer a beach is to an oil shipping lane or an oil dumping site, the heavier it is polluted.During storms, beach tar balls are pushed by the waves to the back of the beach or, in the case of a cliffed coast, are carried along the shore by the longshore current. When the tar balls reach a gap in the cliff (such as an estuary), they are carried inland by the storm waves. There the tar may become buried or dry, shrink and break into small particles which are then dispersed by the wind.     

国内外海滩质量评价体系研究

海滩作为宝贵的旅游资源越来越受到关注,国外学者在海滩质量评价方面的研究工作起步较早,多个国家都已经建立了不同的海滩评价体系。其中"蓝旗"评价标准在世界范围内得到了广泛的应用。我国海滩资源较为丰富,但是质量评价体系仍处于起步阶段,尚没有形成完善的体系,仅有少部分海滩进行了质量评价,使用的标准也不统一,多由评价者自己建立标准进行评价。总结了欧洲、北美洲、大洋洲使用的主要海滩评价标准,将国外各海滩质量评价体系的启示和国内海滩质量评价的特点相结合,探讨我国海滩质量评价应选用的评价因子。认为目前建立适应我国国情、充分考虑海滩用途及沉积特征、区分旅游地和乡村的海滩质量评价体系进行海滩评价较为适宜。根据已有研究和实地考察情况,分别对旅游地和乡村海滩从自然因素、环境因素、其他因素3个方面选取了20个、15个评价因子。     

Temporal assessment of sediment transport from beach nourishments by using foraminifera as natural tracers

This paper presents the application of a technique that can be easily applied in monitoring programs following beach fills, where sand is dredged from subtidal zones, seabed or bays, usually rich in foraminifera shells. Its utility lies in a simple and rapid estimation of the prevailing longshore transport paths and determination of the main eroding/accreting zones. A beach monitoring program was undertaken in a embayment on the South Atlantic Spanish coast, where several nourishments were carried out in order to recover an eroding beach. Once the nourishment was complete, a temporal analysis of foraminifera shell distribution was made in a nearby beach inside the embayment by monthly sediment sampling. Foraminifera shells were used as natural tracers for estimating sediment pathways. The results showed a complex pattern of sedimentary transport between both beaches, where wind action and reflected/diffracted waves interfered with the dominant longshore current, depending on the prevailing hydrodynamic regime. These results were later confirmed by a 3-year morphodynamic study. Although foraminifera dispersion only accounts for the behaviour of fine fractions, the monitoring of shell dispersion after dumping demonstrated to be a useful tool for studying the stability of nourished beaches. In the case of nourished beaches foraminifera shells could be considered as mixed tracers, with many advantages over both natural and artificial traditional tracers.     

Invertebrate macrofauna as potential indicators of sandy beach instability

Faunal and physical characteristics were compared on a range of exposed and sheltered beaches on the coast of North Wales, U.K., to determine whether the instability of beach sediments could be adequately described using biological evidence alone.An index of relative instability was generated from values of average change in beach sand level, recorded over a period of twelve months. Invertebrate macrofaunas, characteristic of the different levels of sediment instability, were identified and their affinities to these areas and also particle size were tested. To ascertain the effect of localized physical variations across the width of individual beaches the index and faunal data were considered on a zonal basis with tidal intervals acting as fixed zone boundaries.Prevalent trends in the faunal data were examined using an ordination technique. A stronger correlation was found between the principal trends in the ordination and sediment instability than with particle size. The closeness of the relationships decreased up the shore. This was considered to be due to terrestrial influences and a decreasing environmental predictability.Beaches were allocated exposure ratings, using methods described in McLachlan (1980), and these were found to be complementary to those derived from the scale of instability. It was concluded that faunal evidence could be used on lower shore zones of beaches as a guide to the degree of temporal instability expected in the sedimentary environment.     

旅游海滩质量评价在海滩管理中的应用研究——以南澳岛青澳湾海滩为例

海滩是宝贵的旅游资源,健康的海滩系统在旅游、沿岸防护安全等多方面能提供很多有价值的服务,但当前旅游海滩在生态环境质量、旅游体验等方面尚存在诸多问题。旅游海滩质量评价是对旅游海滩自然属性和开发利用水平的综合评价,能较为客观地反映出旅游海滩环境质量水平,是较为有效的海滩管理工具之一。本研究在现场环境调查和游客问卷调查的基础上,建立旅游海滩质量评价指标体系,开展了广东青澳湾海滩质量评价,并对其影响因素进行分析。结果显示:当前青澳湾海滩开发程度、海滩环境质量尚未达到良好水平。根据评价结果,对青澳湾海滩的可持续发展提出了完善海滩旅游配套设施和配套服务,对海滩进行系统的规划,建立科学的旅游海滩质量评价体系和环境监测、调控体系等建议。     

华南水东湾波控、中等潮差岬湾海滩地形动力分类

海滩地形动力分类在国外的海岸地貌研究中已经被广泛接受。本文使用了华南粤西水东湾切线带、过渡带和遮蔽带海滩连续16个月32次大潮期间同步获取的波浪、潮汐、泥沙和海滩地形数据,分别按照无量纲沉降参数、相对潮差参数和无量纲海湾尺度参数对这一岬湾海滩不同岸段的海滩类型进行了研究,研究发现：（1）水东湾切线带海滩的主要状态为有裂流的低潮台地状态和沙坝型海滩状态,过渡带海滩主要状态是低潮沙坝/裂流海滩和沙坝消散型状态,遮蔽带海滩主要状态是有或无沙坝的消散型状态;（2）海湾不同岸段海滩状态的顺序变化与差异体现了岬湾海滩状态的时空变化性,与现场观测的海滩地形的变化基本一致,说明了对波控中到强潮海滩进行研究时,需要考虑潮汐的影响。同时,本文主要给出了海滩状态研究的一个框架体系,由于海滩不同的状态伴随不同的侵蚀模式,要求我国今后需加强在这一方面研究,以进一步丰富我国海滩地形演变、海滩地形动力过程和海滩防侵蚀的理论基础。     

Is a small sea turtles rookery doomed to local extinction? Decreasing nesting trends at the Paria Gulf,Venezuela

Small rookeries are rarely evaluated for marine turtles worldwide. Two species of sea turtles (Hawksbill, Eretmochelys imbricata; Leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea) nest on five main beaches of the northeast coast of the Paria Gulf in Venezuela. Population trends using generalized linear models at this rookery were assessed and compared with other small rookeries. Both species showed significant negative nesting trends: Nesting by critically endangered hawksbills decreased over nine seasons 2009–2017 (64–142 nests per year, General Linear Model Slope Value = ?0.061; data pooled for five beaches); similarly, vulnerable leatherback nests decreased across the same period in the main beach Los Garzos (0–69 nests/year; GLMSV = ?0.34). Besides human and natural predation of the nests, no significant environmental impacts affect the beaches except probably on Obispo Isthmus where a gas pipeline installation interrupted the nesting activity in 2014. Observed changes to the nesting trends in these small rookeries have a collective impact on broader conservation concerns for sea turtles in the region.     

Can existing institutions protect biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction? Experiences from two on-going processes

United Nations discussions on the governance of marine areas beyond national jurisdiction have questioned, but not yet reached a decision, on whether existing institutional agreements and structures are sufficient to meet global commitments to protect marine biodiversity, or if additional mechanisms may be required. This paper considers two very different efforts to protect marine biodiversity in these areas: (1) in the North-East Atlantic through the efforts of OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic; and (2) in the central Atlantic, through the efforts of the Sargasso Sea Alliance led by the Bermuda government. In each case, action has been strongly supported by non-governmental organisations and subsequent progress has hinged upon on-going dedicated efforts of “champion” governments to bring other States on board. This paper outlines the difficulties that they have faced, and consequently why they have been time-consuming, and are not yet completed. The paper then considers 10 common recommendations that can be drawn from the experiences of these two distinct initiatives, and their relevance to on-going UN deliberations.     

The effect of human use of sandy beaches on developmental stability of Talitrus saltator (Montagu, 1808) (Crustacea, Amphipoda). A study on fluctuating asymmetry

In recent years, there has been an increasing intensity of human use of coastal areas in Galicia (NW Spain). Actually, there is great concern about rapid and unplanned urban and industrial development on certain locations, as this can generate adverse impacts on those areas. In this study, we selected three sandy beaches along the Galician coast (Chanteiro, Insuela and Valieros) facing different levels of anthropic pressure, and we analysed Talitrus saltator individuals with the aim of elucidating whether anthropogenic pressures on beaches such as tourism or pollution have an influence on the incidence of morphological developmental alterations in sandhoppers in the field. Specifically, levels of fluctuating asymmetry were selected as indicators of environmental stress. Results of two sampling dates (May and September) show that individuals collected at the most touristy and polluted beach were those showing the highest asymmetry values, although results were only statistically significant for samples collected during spring. Results are in accordance with the hypothesis that beach management and pollution reduce symmetry in sandhoppers living in altered beaches.     

海滩养护工程质量评价研究进展

由于自然因素和人类活动的影响等原因,世界很多海滩经受着侵蚀和破坏。而利用人工养护工程来保护和恢复海滩具有养护效果较明显、干滩面积明显增加以及不破坏环境景观的优点,目前得到越来越多国家的认可。国外由于养滩历史较久,养滩工程后的监测和质量评价不仅开展得早,而且已经成为工程的一个重要部分。评价指标已经比较完善,甚至有些国家已经将养滩效果评价列入法规框架之中。我国的海滩养护工程在十几年前才开始,虽然工程量逐年增长,但是对海滩养护工程施工后的工程监测和工程评价却较少涉及。本文对美国、荷兰、英国、丹麦以及我国等国家的海滩养护工程的工程评价工作进行总结,从而提出适用于我国工程特点的养滩工程质量评价因子和方法。     

Beach response to a fixed sand bypassing system

Indian River Inlet is located at roughly the mid-point of the Atlantic coast of Delaware and connects the ocean to two Delaware inland bays. Jetties constructed in 1940 have maintained the inlet for navigation purposes but have also acted as a barrier to net northerly alongshore sediment transport causing downdrift erosion. A mobile, land-based bypassing system was initiated in 1990 in an effort to counteract this erosion. Beach profile data from 1985 (pre-bypassing) until 2008 are used to investigate the effect of the sand bypassing system on beaches adjacent to the inlet. The downdrift beach experienced horizontal shoreline erosion between 10 and 60 m during the pre-bypassing period but accreted 10–20 m during the bypassing period. The mean shoreline location on the updrift beach during bypassing is 10–20 m landward (erosion) of its position during the pre-bypassing period. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) amplitudes from analyses performed on mean-removed elevation surfaces during the periods of highest bypassed volume (average of 83% of design rate) showed that the influence of the bypassing system on the downdrift beach extends to about 1500 m of the inlet. An EOF analysis showed that different morphologic responses were evident following the initiation of bypass operations. Temporal variations of shoreline and beach morphology were correlated to the temporal variations in bypassing rates on the downdrift beach only. The downdrift beach response was greatest near the inlet for larger bypassing volumes. Correlation in these instances occurred with a roughly 1-year time lag suggesting that the beach quickly redistributes the bypassed sand. EOF amplitude and shoreline response are weakly correlated to bypassed volumes when the system bypassed smaller volumes (average of 56% of design rate) of sand suggesting that there is a minimum bypassing rate, regardless of yearly variability, below which the effect on the downdrift beach is obscured.     

Morphodynamic classification of sandy beaches in low energetic marine environment

Morphodynamic classification of beaches has achieved widespread acceptance in both geological and geomorphological literature. In this sense, the present work classifies twelve Mediterranean low energetic beaches according to the dimensionless fall parameter (Ω) parameter in the Island of Mallorca. Propagation of 44 yr of wave data as well as a detailed sediment study allows to provide probabilities for morphodynamical beach state on an annual and seasonal basis. Consequently, beaches in Mallorca fall between three major categories which are (a) truly reflective, (b) reflective skewed to intermediate and (c) intermediate beaches. The Mallorcan beach position in the morphodynamical scheme is close related to the physiographical and geological framework. Comparison of observed values with those obtained in the analysis leads that for gross beach classification there is agreement between predicted and real state. However on a seasonal classification, mainly during summer, there is no agreement between the predicted state and the real one. As the model does not incorporate the role of summer sea breezes, beach reflective states are highlighted. Real beach configurations correspond to more energetic wave dynamic conditions and to intermediate state scenarios.     

Meiofauna as descriptor of tourism-induced changes at sandy beaches

Tourism has long been considered as a 'clean industry' with almost no negative effects on the environment. This study demonstrated, in two different coastal systems (Mediterranean and Baltic), that tourism related activities are particularly affecting the sandy beach meio- and nematofauna in the upper beach zone, the specific ecotone in which many meiofauna species from both the marine and the terrestrial environment congregate. Tourist upper beaches are characterized by a lower % total organic matter (%TOM), lower densities, lower diversities (absence of Insecta, Harpacticoida, Oligochaeta, terrestrial nematodes and marine Ironidae nematodes) and higher community stress compared to nearby non-tourist locations. The %TOM was found to be the single most important factor for the observed differences in meiofauna assemblage structure at tourist versus non-tourist beaches in both the Mediterranean and the Baltic region. The free-living nematode assemblages from tourist upper zones depart significantly from expectations based on random selections from the regional nematode species pool. Furthermore upper zone assemblages are characterised by a low species diversity consisting of taxonomically closely related nematode species with r-strategist features. Generally, faunal differences between tourist and non-tourist beaches are decreasing towards the lower beach zones.