Beach nourishment using sediments from relict sand deposit: Effects on subtidal macrobenthic communities in the Central Adriatic Sea (Eastern Mediterranean Sea-Italy)

M Targusi; B La Porta; L Lattanzi; P La Valle; M Loia; D Paganelli; A Pazzini; R Proietti; L Nicoletti

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.12.006

Beach nourishment using sediments from relict sand deposit: Effects on subtidal macrobenthic communities in the Central Adriatic Sea (Eastern Mediterranean Sea-Italy)

Mar Environ Res. 2019 Feb:144:186-193. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.12.006. Epub 2018 Dec 22.

Authors

M Targusi¹, B La Porta², L Lattanzi³, P La Valle⁴, M Loia⁵, D Paganelli⁶, A Pazzini⁷, R Proietti⁸, L Nicoletti⁹

Affiliations

¹ ISPRA, Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Via di Castel Romano 100, 00128, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: monica.targusi@isprambiente.it.
² ISPRA, Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Via di Castel Romano 100, 00128, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: barbara.laporta@isprambiente.it.
³ ISPRA, Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Via di Castel Romano 100, 00128, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: loretta.lattanzi@isprambiente.it.
⁴ ISPRA, Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: paola.lavalle@isprambiente.it.
⁵ ISPRA, Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: marco.loia@isprambiente.it.
⁶ ISPRA, Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: daniela.paganelli@isprambiente.it.
⁷ ISPRA, Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: alfredo.pazzini@isprambiente.it.
⁸ ISPRA, Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: raffaele.proietti@isprambiente.it.
⁹ ISPRA, Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: luisa.nicoletti@isprambiente.it.

PMID: 30683558
DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.12.006

Abstract

Nowadays nourishment is the most popular shore reconstruction strategy to counteract erosion of coastal areas. Sediments used for nourishment can have terrestrial or marine origin. This study analysed the effects of nourishment with relict sand on the subtidal macrobenthic communities and on the surface sediment at 7 sites of the Marche Region (Central Adriatic Sea, Italy). Samples for biological and physical analyses were collected in each site before and after nourishment. One year after nourishment the presence of the relict sands used for the replenishment is still visible in the sediment of each site. In the same period macrobenthic communities are characterised by the dominance of a few species able to avoid burial and suffocation phenomena, showing a low variability respect to the communities present before.

Keywords: Beach nourishment; Benthic communities; Central Adriatic sea; Relict sand deposit.

MeSH terms

Animals
Aquatic Organisms*
Conservation of Natural Resources
Environmental Monitoring*
Geologic Sediments / chemistry*
Italy
Mediterranean Sea
Sand*

Substances

Sand