Benthic Species Distribution Linked to Morphological Features of a Barred Coast
The composition of benthic species communities in the nearshore zone is closely related to the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic conditions. Sustainable management of the coastal ecosystem requires knowledge about the natural dynamics as well as human-induced changes on the ecosystem. To improve our kn...
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doaj-006e105b622d4917b6d390030b24fcd72021-04-02T08:33:28ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122019-12-01811610.3390/jmse8010016jmse8010016Benthic Species Distribution Linked to Morphological Features of a Barred CoastHarriëtte Holzhauer0Bas W. Borsje1Jan A. van Dalfsen2Kathelijne M. Wijnberg3Suzanne J.M.H. Hulscher4Peter M.J. Herman5Water Engineering and Management, Faculty Engineering Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The NetherlandsWater Engineering and Management, Faculty Engineering Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The NetherlandsNatureBased, 1788 ZE Julianadorp, The NetherlandsWater Engineering and Management, Faculty Engineering Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The NetherlandsWater Engineering and Management, Faculty Engineering Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The NetherlandsDeltares, Department of Marine and Coastal Management, P.O. Box 177, 2600 MH Delft, The NetherlandsThe composition of benthic species communities in the nearshore zone is closely related to the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic conditions. Sustainable management of the coastal ecosystem requires knowledge about the natural dynamics as well as human-induced changes on the ecosystem. To improve our knowledge of the benthic species distribution along a dissipative sandy shore with multiple breaker bars, an extensive dataset was collected in the nearshore zone of the barrier islands Ameland and Schiermonnikoog in the Dutch North Sea. From 2010 to 2014, every year, approximately 180 grab samples along 18 cross-shore transects were collected and analyzed for sediment characteristics and macrobenthic species composition. Mixed-effect-models and partial redundancy analysis were used to analyze the importance of morphological features (i.e., slopes, bar crests, and troughs) as an explanatory variable for the benthic species distribution. The results indicate that the morphological features in themselves explain three times more variation than the environmental parameters used. This demonstrates the importance of morphological features as a factor in explaining the distribution of benthic species communities in the nearshore. Detailed information on morphological features is easy to obtain from bathymetry maps or visual inspection. Incorporating morphological features in species distribution models will therefore help to improve sustainable management of our valuable sandy coastal systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/8/1/16macrobenthosbarred sandy coastspecies distributionnorth seanearshore |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Harriëtte Holzhauer Bas W. Borsje Jan A. van Dalfsen Kathelijne M. Wijnberg Suzanne J.M.H. Hulscher Peter M.J. Herman |
spellingShingle |
Harriëtte Holzhauer Bas W. Borsje Jan A. van Dalfsen Kathelijne M. Wijnberg Suzanne J.M.H. Hulscher Peter M.J. Herman Benthic Species Distribution Linked to Morphological Features of a Barred Coast Journal of Marine Science and Engineering macrobenthos barred sandy coast species distribution north sea nearshore |
author_facet |
Harriëtte Holzhauer Bas W. Borsje Jan A. van Dalfsen Kathelijne M. Wijnberg Suzanne J.M.H. Hulscher Peter M.J. Herman |
author_sort |
Harriëtte Holzhauer |
title |
Benthic Species Distribution Linked to Morphological Features of a Barred Coast |
title_short |
Benthic Species Distribution Linked to Morphological Features of a Barred Coast |
title_full |
Benthic Species Distribution Linked to Morphological Features of a Barred Coast |
title_fullStr |
Benthic Species Distribution Linked to Morphological Features of a Barred Coast |
title_full_unstemmed |
Benthic Species Distribution Linked to Morphological Features of a Barred Coast |
title_sort |
benthic species distribution linked to morphological features of a barred coast |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
issn |
2077-1312 |
publishDate |
2019-12-01 |
description |
The composition of benthic species communities in the nearshore zone is closely related to the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic conditions. Sustainable management of the coastal ecosystem requires knowledge about the natural dynamics as well as human-induced changes on the ecosystem. To improve our knowledge of the benthic species distribution along a dissipative sandy shore with multiple breaker bars, an extensive dataset was collected in the nearshore zone of the barrier islands Ameland and Schiermonnikoog in the Dutch North Sea. From 2010 to 2014, every year, approximately 180 grab samples along 18 cross-shore transects were collected and analyzed for sediment characteristics and macrobenthic species composition. Mixed-effect-models and partial redundancy analysis were used to analyze the importance of morphological features (i.e., slopes, bar crests, and troughs) as an explanatory variable for the benthic species distribution. The results indicate that the morphological features in themselves explain three times more variation than the environmental parameters used. This demonstrates the importance of morphological features as a factor in explaining the distribution of benthic species communities in the nearshore. Detailed information on morphological features is easy to obtain from bathymetry maps or visual inspection. Incorporating morphological features in species distribution models will therefore help to improve sustainable management of our valuable sandy coastal systems. |
topic |
macrobenthos barred sandy coast species distribution north sea nearshore |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/8/1/16 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT harrietteholzhauer benthicspeciesdistributionlinkedtomorphologicalfeaturesofabarredcoast AT baswborsje benthicspeciesdistributionlinkedtomorphologicalfeaturesofabarredcoast AT janavandalfsen benthicspeciesdistributionlinkedtomorphologicalfeaturesofabarredcoast AT kathelijnemwijnberg benthicspeciesdistributionlinkedtomorphologicalfeaturesofabarredcoast AT suzannejmhhulscher benthicspeciesdistributionlinkedtomorphologicalfeaturesofabarredcoast AT petermjherman benthicspeciesdistributionlinkedtomorphologicalfeaturesofabarredcoast |
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