Polychaete tubes create ephemeral community patterns: Lanice conchilega (Pallas, 1766) associations studied over six years

On intertidal sandflats spatial patterns of benthic communities are influenced by biogenic habitat structures such as mussel beds or seagrass meadows. These structures represent ecological islands hosting a different and often more diverse and abundant community than surrounding sandflats. However, few studies have been carried out on tube aggregations of the polychaete Lanice conchilega, although its tube tops are conspicuous habitat features on European intertidal coasts with densities reaching several thousand per m².The aim of this study was to determine differences between benthic communities associated with tube aggregations and tube-free areas, and to investigate the longevity of community patterns around L. conchilega tubes. From 1995 to 2000, the L. conchilega population of an intertidal sandflat off the Eastern Friesian coast was sampled annually. Multivariate analysis showed significant differences between the L. conchilega and reference communities. Species diversity and abundance were higher among tube aggregations. This pattern developed rapidly after L. conchilega colonisation but was also readily destroyed, mainly due to dynamic changes of the L. conchilega population.Five species of benthic macrofauna were exclusively found among L. conchilega tubes, and four species were more abundant in tube aggregations than in reference areas. Only one species, the polychaete Aphelochaeta marioni, was found in lower numbers in dense L. conchilega aggregations.Hence, it is concluded that L. conchilega is a habitat engineer, which alters the composition of the benthic community and contributes to its patchy distribution pattern. However, this pattern is dynamic and ephemeral. Effects of tube aggregations depend on the population dynamic of L. conchilega itself and the species composition in the surrounding sands.     

Impact of Brunswick River Mouth Training Walls on Adjacent Beaches, Brunswick Heads, New South Wales, Australia

1 .IntroductionTheBrunswickbeach barrierbegantodeveloparound 6 50 0yearsagoattheendofthepostglacialmarinetransgression .Onshoreandalongshoretransportofmarinesandsoccurredfollowingthestabi lizationofsealevelresultinginbeachandduneextensionwhichoccurredonmanyNSWbeachesuntilabout30 0 0to 1 0 0 0yearsBP (Roy ,1 980 ) ,followedbyperiodsofstabilitytorecession .TherecessionalongthenorthernNSWandsouthernQLDcoastisattributedtocontinuingnorthwardlongshoresandtransportestimatedatbetween 2 0 0 0 0 0m…     

海岸带滩涂地貌演变遥感方法研究

遥感技术是进行海岸带资源调查的有效技术手段,对水利工程规划、防灾减灾、滩涂开发利用等方面有较大的实用价值。在海岸带资源调查中,传统的地面调查方法不仅工作量大,而且实施起来非常困难;遥感技术由于具有感测范围大、获取信息快、更新周期短的特点,为海岸带资源调查和地貌演变的分析和研究提供了较好的方法和手段。文章探讨了遥感技术在江苏省安台线(海安、东台之间海域界线)勘界工作中的运用,采用较新的卫星遥感影像作为工作底图,同时利用1988—2003年之间不同时相的七景影像监测滩涂的演变,在提供了准确的滩涂地形、地貌资料的基础上,通过监测潮沟的变化推断出滩涂的演变,为海域勘界工作提供了有力而可靠的依据。     

海滩均衡剖面的概念及相关问题的讨论--以日照实测海滩剖面为例

海滩均衡剖面是海洋动力和海滩泥沙充分作用下的一个具有统计意义上的相对均衡的海滩形态。绝对意义上的、理想的均衡海滩剖面在自然界是难以找到的 ,而统计意义上的海滩均衡特征可以满足海岸变化和海滩过程研究需要。海滩均衡剖面的形态主要受控于国海滩泥沙的粒度特征 ,该剖面的形态指数是海滩泥沙沉降速率的函数 ,海滩粒度越粗 ,海滩坡度越陡。本文研究的日照海滩存在统计意义上的均衡剖面。由于海滩沉积物粒度具有明显的分带特征 ,海滩剖面不是一个理想的均一平面 ,而是由与海滩泥沙粒度相适应的两个均衡剖面组成。这两段海滩的表层粒径分别为 4.8Φ和 7.5Φ ,观测剖面的海滩形态指数分别为 0 .0 75和 0 .0 1 5,理论海滩形态指数分别为 0 .0 77和 0 .0 2 ,理论值和观测值有很好的一致性。     

Thermal insulation of the intertidal zone by the ice foot

Few studies have looked at the ecological significance of the ice foot in intertidal habitats. During the 2007 winter, we quantified the hourly variation of temperature at the intertidal zone and at the upper, dry coast on the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Nova Scotia, Canada) using submersible data loggers. While air temperature dropped to − 20 °C at the peak of the winter, intertidal temperature was never below − 7 °C during the winter. In fact, for almost two months when the ice foot was stable, temperature ranged only between − 2.4 °C and − 1.1 °C at the intertidal zone. The intertidal values are higher than published values of lethal temperature for cold-water intertidal invertebrates and seaweeds. Thus, the ice foot may prevent these organisms from experiencing lethal levels of thermal stress, contributing to their long-term persistence in these environmentally stressful habitats.     

Short-term morphological change and sediment dynamics in the intertidal zone of a macrotidal beach

This paper describes the morphological and sedimentological evolution of a macrotidal beach over a 20 day period under varying hydrodynamic conditions (significant breaker heights of 0·3–2 m and tidal ranges of 2–5 m). During the field campaign, an intertidal bar developed around the mid‐tide level, migrated onshore, welded to the upper beach and was then flattened under energetic wave conditions. The bar had a wave breakpoint origin and its formation was triggered by a reduction in tidal range, causing more stationary water‐level conditions, rather than an increase in wave height. Most of the onshore bar migration took place while the bar was positioned in the inner to mid‐surf zone position, such that the bar moved away from the breakpoint and exhibited ‘divergent’ behaviour. The depth of disturbance over individual tidal cycles was 10–20% of the breaker height. Such values are more typical of steep reflective beaches, than gently sloping, dissipative beaches, and are considered to reflect the maximum height of wave‐generated ripples. The grain size distribution of surficial sediments did not vary consistently across the beach profile and temporal changes in the sedimentology were mostly unrelated to the morphological response. The lack of clear links between beach morphology and sedimentology may be in part due to shortcomings in the sampling methodology, which ignored the vertical variability in the sediment size characteristics across the active layer.     

The configuration of equilibrium beach profile in South China

To understand the evolution and stability of beaches, prediction of the equilibrium beach profile (EBP) is theoretically and practically important. In the present paper, a new equation, h = Ae^Bx + C is developed to predict the change in beach profile for sections above the water level and the adjacent nearshore portions. Moreover, fractal analysis is applied to predict types of EBP for the first time using the field data collected from Liao Zuikou and Nanwan beaches, South China. Three types of EBP termed Upward-concave EBP (U-EBP), Downward-concave EBP (D-EBP) and Medium-characteristic EBP (M-EBP), are given for the studied region of South China.     

Early postglacial history of the southeastern Assiniboine Delta,glacial Lake Agassiz basin

New stratigraphic evidence from the Rossendale area, Manitoba, Canada, provides insight into the early postglacial evolution of the southeastern Assiniboine Delta. In this region, much of the upper 13+ m of sediment accumulation is characterized by multiple cycles of sandy rhythmites interbedded with massive to laminated silt. These sediments were deposited rapidly by traction or turbidity currents and record the construction of the Assiniboine fan-delta during the deep-water Lockhart Phase of glacial Lake Agassiz (>10.8 ¹⁴C ka BP). Shortly before ∼10 ¹⁴C ka BP, fluvial incision into deltaic deposits occurred locally at the Rossendale Gully site in response to the regression of glacial Lake Agassiz during the Moorhead Phase. Plant macrofossils deposited in the gully by 10 ¹⁴C ka BP provide the first information on early postglacial plant colonization of the distal Assiniboine delta. These data suggest initial establishment of Scorpidium scorpioides, Potamogeton spp., Scirpus spp., and other wetland plants, followed by colonization of uplands by a Picea-Populus assemblage. Importantly, because the gully is located in a protected depression behind the Campbell beach, evidence of water table rise from aquatic macrophytes suggests that glacial Lake Agassiz transgressed to the Campbell level during the early Emerson Phase (∼10 ¹⁴C ka BP). Furthermore, no evidence exists for a post-Lockhart rise in Lake Agassiz above the Upper Campbell beach. If Agassiz stood at the Campbell level during the early Emerson Phase, then drainage through the southern outlet may have been possible at this time. This scenario, if true, may suggest that the northwestern outlet was temporarily closed by a glacial advance shortly before 10 ¹⁴C ka BP. This is the first in a series of ten papers published in this special issue of Journal of Paleolimnology. These papers were presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the International Association for Great Lakes Research (2004), held at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. P.F. Karrow and C.F.M. Lewis were guest editors of this special issue     

Object-oriented extraction of beach morphology from video images

The ARGUS system is a shore-based, optical video system offering a suitable remote sensing technique for the purpose of long-term, high-resolution monitoring of coastal morphodynamics. Ten-minute time-exposure (timex) images obtained by the ARGUS cameras during low tide show the intertidal morphology (bars, troughs and rips) by the differences between water, wet sand and dry sand, where dry sand represents bars, and wet sand and water represent troughs and rips. A semi-automatic object-oriented algorithm was developed for classification of intertidal beach in low-tide video images and was tested on 13 low-tide ARGUS images collected at Noordwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Because of the strong relation between the visual observations and object-oriented image analysis, the ARGUS images are subdivided in small homogeneous areas (i.e. objects) by segmentation. Maximum likelihood classification creates a model for each day using a random selection of the objects, which are manually labelled, and their accompanying variables. Of the three classes, class wet sand had a classification fit of 43.4% when compared to an in situ classification; class water was correctly classified for 90.1% and dry sand could be classified best (92.8%). By combining their cross-shore position and their classification, objects can be directly linked with the respective morphological features.