Beaches - more than just sand and fun

Abstract

Beaches evoke images of laughing frolicking children, of buckets and spades and sandcastles. Yet while beaches are highly valued by society and are prime locations for recreation, they also underpin many coastal economies around the world. The multitude of life that exploits this sandy habitat is rarely noticed: in the view of some, beaches are ‘ecological deserts’ in view of the apparent lack of life. Such a view is not that uncommon and was embraced by coastal biologists till around 30 years ago. Among the consequences of this misconception has been that the biological study of sandy beaches has seriously lagged behind that of rocky shores. In addition, biologists working on sandy beaches have tended to view life patterns on sandy shores as modifications of those encountered on hard substrata (Brown and McLachlan, 1990). Since the majority of the global coastline (two thirds, according to Reise, 2000, and three-quarters, according to Bascom, 1980) is sandy in nature, this vast biotic resource merits greater consideration.