Beach Food Webs and Biodiversity

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Salish Sea References

• Watershed Characterization Mapper
• The Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
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• Washington Coastal Atlas
• WDFW's Salmonscape Map

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Beach food webs and biodiversity is a general topic that considers factors affecting the Biodiversity and Food Webs of Beaches. Of particular interest are the use of beaches by Forage Fish and how Beach Restoration or Shoreline Management affects beach ecosystems. The Washington Shoreline Management Act requires that local Jurisdictions manage shorelines for no net loss of shoreline ecosystem functions. Beach physical and biological functions are also Regulated under the Endangered Species Act.

Notes

• The biota and thus food webs found on beaches are defined by elevations zones related to tides. These Tidal Data are gathered and analyzed by the NOAA National Ocean Service.
• As an ecotone between aquatic and terrestrial habitats, beaches have a high biodiversity.
• Substrate, salinity and elevation strongly define biota. Dethier 1990 provides a classification of coastal habitats including beaches and their typical biological composition that is presented in the ShoreZone Geodatabase
• The Puget Sound Watershed Characterization Project completed a biological overlay that aggregated existing WDFW data sets to evaluate potential indicators of coastal biodiversity.
• The relative importance of the primary production provided by Eelgrass and Macroalgae also differs based on sub-tidal sediment texture.

Beach and Food Webs¦Biodiversity Products

The following Product pages are categorized with the categories Beach and Food Webs¦Biodiversity.

Documents

Carls et al 1999 herring PAH exposure effects  •  Dethier et al 2016 impacts of armoring  •  Gustafson et al 2006 cherry point herring status.pdf  •  Guttman 2009 backshore vegetation.pdf  •  Hayes et al 2011 bulltrout use in skagit bay  •  Lambert & Chamberlin 2023 beach nourishment science synthesis.pdf  •  Stick et al 2014 herring stock status 2012.pdf  •  Vines et al 2000 creosote and herring spawn

Websites & Datasets

Shoreline Monitoring Database

Graphics

• Shoreline Monitoring Database

Beach Topics

The following Product pages are categorized with Beach.

Alternative Shoreline Armoring  •  Beach Forage Fish Spawning  •  Beach Nourishment  •  Beach Sediment Dynamics  •  Beach Shellfish Production  •  Beach ecosystem assessment  •  Beach social dynamics  •  Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Grade  •  Eelgrass  •  Eelgrass Restoration  •  Feeder Bluffs  •  Managed Retreat  •  Nearshore Monitoring Strategy  •  Nearshore Salmon Recovery Planning  •  Non-natal Nearshore Rearing of Salmon  •  Olympia Oyster Restoration  •  Pacific Herring

the capture of sun energy by plants, and the base of all food chains.

particles of clay, silt, sand, gravel, or cobble, transported by water, are called sediment.