About This Project

Beach nourishment (BN) is widely used to mitigate beach erosion. There is a lack of knowledge of how BN projects affect benthic microalgae (BMA), which are important primary producers. BMA may be useful bioindicators. This project aims to examine how the BN project on Tybee Island in 2014 affected community structure of BMA. Knowledge of how BNs affect BMA can inform future decisions on how and when to do BNs and what types of sediment to use.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Beaches provide unique habitats to many organisms and are critical to the enormous travel and tourism industries. Coastal erosion is becoming an increasing threat to our beaches. Climate change increases the threat of coastal erosion through sea-level rise and severe storms. Beach nourishment (BN) is the favored management technique in the US. BN does not stop erosion so it must be periodically redone. Therefore the number of BN projects is likely to increase in the future. There is a lack of research examining the effects of these BN projects on important primary producers such as benthic microalgae.

What is the significance of this project?

Extra polymeric secretions (EPS) released by benthic microalgae (BMA) may be important in inhibiting erosion by binding sediment together. BMA contribute to the base of the food chain and may also be important bioindicators as many are geographically widespread. BMA are easy and cost-effective to identify and characterize, making them ideal for environmental health assessment. BN projects differ in season and borrow sediment source. Therefore, multiple studies like this one are needed in order to identify general patterns given the seasonal and sediment differences in BN projects. Knowledge of what type of borrow sediment and which season has the least negative effects on BMA is important for future BN projects so that environmental impacts to BMA are minimized.

What are the goals of the project?

This project aims to examine how the beach nourishment (BN) project on Tybee Island in 2014 affected community structure (biomass and species composition) of benthic microalgae and follow the time course of their recovery. The main objectives of this project are: 1) To assess how the BN affected the biomass of benthic microalgae, 2) To assess the effects of the BN on the community composition of benthic microalgae, 3) To determine if and when microalgal communities recover after BN. Other objectives include assessing the effects of BN on exopolymeric secretions (EPS) and examining how changes in sediment grain size affect the benthic microalgae community.