ABSTRACT
Sea-level rise will have impacts on soft-sediment shorelines and intertidal ecosystems, which will be especially vulnerable to change with additional impacts from extreme events. (CSIRO 2002)
In extent, sandy beaches are major ecosystems comprising about 50-60% of Earth’s coastlines (Bird 1996). That these beaches have iconic status and large socioeconomic value is well understood (Batley and Cocks 1992; Klein et al. 2004; Blackwell 2007). Less appreciated is the fact that they are diverse, living ecosystems (McLachlan and Brown 2006) that have intrinsic value and provide many ecological goods and services to humans (Schlacher et al. 2008; Defeo et al. 2009). This failing is largely due
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 133 Sandy Beaches as Habitats ..................................................................................... 134 Biota and Ecology .................................................................................................. 135 Habitat Linkages .................................................................................................... 137 Climate Change ...................................................................................................... 138 Ecological Effects of Climate Change ................................................................... 139
Temperature ....................................................................................................... 140 Sea Level ........................................................................................................... 141 Storminess/Wave Energy................................................................................... 143 Oceanography ................................................................................................... 144 Rainfall .............................................................................................................. 144 Acidi¡cation, Calci¡cation, Acidosis ................................................................ 144 Interacting Stressors .......................................................................................... 145
Management ........................................................................................................... 146 General Considerations ..................................................................................... 146 Beach Resilience ............................................................................................... 148
Summary ................................................................................................................ 150 Acknowledgments .................................................................................................. 151 References .............................................................................................................. 151
to the scant attention ecologists have afforded beaches in contrast with other coastal systems such as rocky shores, sea grasses, mangroves, and coral reefs (Fairweather 1990).
