Banquette faunal assemblages from groomed and ungroomed beaches in the Maltese Islands

Abstract

The macrofauna associated with beached seagrass wrack on three regularly cleaned (groomed) Maltese beaches and three that are not cleaned (ungroomed) was sampled over a two year period by taking cores and by using pitfall traps. Overall, 40 species were collected from both types of beaches. Coleoptera had the highest species richness (20 species) but the most abundant individual species were the gastropod Truncatella subcylindrica and the amphipod Orchestia stephenseni. Species richness and individual abundance were highest in the winter months for all beaches. The ungroomed beaches had more species (34) than the groomed ones (9) as well as a higher Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Pielou’s evenness, and individual abundance for all species collectively. Thick and long-standing wrack accumulations support higher species richness and abundance and a more taxonomically and trophically diverse biota than thin, freshly deposited layers of wrack.