Beaches are the launching point from which we begin many of our journeys into the saltwater world.  By absorbing the force of the oceans, beaches protect barrier islands and the estuaries that lay behind them, and buffer the land from the erosive forces of the sea.  And despite the dynamic nature of beach habitats, a suite of animals have evolved into beach specialists and have come to depend on the ecological integrity of these environments.  Alterations that impact beaches also impact these animals.

Beaches also protect marine habitats from land-based human activities.  As we breach the protective bulwark between land and sea, we negatively impact both the land and sea habitats that depend on the nature of the beaches.  For example, it is a common practice for hotels to import sand to create beaches for tourism.  In the tropics, imported sand covers and smothers seagrass and corals, and as the sand erodes it is carried by currents to adjacent areas where it further damages habitats.  Given a choice, consider staying at hotels that incorporate the natural environment into their marketing and development plans, such as restricting all buildings to behind the beach zone.  These hotels are less likely to compromise the integrity of coastal ecosystems, and more likely to provide better access to good fishing and ecotourism. 

Beach nourishment activities in subtropical and warm-temperate regions may have less obvious but equally damaging impacts on beach-dependent organisms.  A negative impact on the habitat and associated organisms will have a negative impact on gamefish.  For example, mole crabs may be absent or in low abundance for years following beach renourishment, which has direct implications for gamefish.  Juvenile permit depend on sandy beaches during their first few months of life, so damage to these habitats has potential impacts on adult permit populations.

Alterations of the longshore flow of sand can dramatically impact coastal habitats as well.  Jetties, for example, interrupt the transport of sand via the longshore current.  The beach may build up nicely around a new jetty, but beaches downstream starve for new sand and slowly lose ground.  Longshore bars are similarly affected.  These are just some of the items we have to consider when we weigh the benefits and disadvantages of alterations of our beaches.

All material copyright Aaron Adams 2007, 2008, and beyond, unless noted.