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Environmental drivers of meiofaunal natural variability, Egypt, Southeastern Mediterranean

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Abstract

Sandy beaches are challenging ecosystems, in which biota experience extreme physical conditions. We sampled meiofauna in conjunction with environmental factors that are well-known to affect faunal associations to describe the ecological state of sandy beaches that experience natural and human-made disturbances. We applied a random stratified sampling design with monthly collections (1800 cores) at three beaches on the Alexandria, Egypt, coast during two sampling periods over 1 year from November to April and May to September. We used multivariate analyses to compare beaches for water quality, particle size, and meiofaunal assemblages. The environmental analysis explained 60% of the total variation of physical factors among beaches and grouped beaches that moderately sorted fine-grained sand and high water salinity vs. the beach with well-sorted, coarse-grain, and low salinity. Meiofaunal analyses revealed unexpected results. The abundance and temporal variation were low, and the explained proportion of natural variation by the putative environmental factors was small. The natural variation was an indicator of long-term beach ruin and oligotrophic conditions. Our results suggest that a large fraction of natural variation in beach meiofauna is stochastic or that other, non-measured, the natural forces (e.g., storm events) or human-made forces (e.g., tourism activities) are essential contributors to variation. Our best models indicate that meiofauna is more resilient to natural disturbances than to human-made stressors, and the higher the beach exposure to the synergetic effects of natural forces and anthropogenic stressors, the lower the ecological state is.

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Acknowledgements

The authors deeply thank Mr. A.S. Qamara for collecting and sorting samples. The first author is grateful to Prof Dr. John W Fleeger, Louisiana State University, USA, for reading the manuscript and for his valuable suggestions.

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  1. Oceanography Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

    Hanan Mitwally Mitwally & Amira Mohsen Hamdan

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  1. Hanan Mitwally Mitwally
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  2. Amira Mohsen Hamdan
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Correspondence to Hanan Mitwally Mitwally.

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Highlights for review

Meiofaunal Natural variability is a good indicator of beach ruin.

Stochastic distribution, winter storms, and touristic activities are the fundamental causes of the large fraction of the unexplained variation in meiofaunal communities.

The beach that experiences the synergetic effect of natural forces and human-made activities has a worse ecological state.

Human-made disturbances; mechanical engineering, pollution, tourism activities, and the natural forces; winter storms, high energy, and rip currents are essential contributors for management decision-makers.

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Mitwally, H.M., Hamdan, A.M. Environmental drivers of meiofaunal natural variability, Egypt, Southeastern Mediterranean. Environ Monit Assess 193, 185 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-08927-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-08927-0

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