| Abstract | Whereas most work to understand impacts of humans on biodiversity on coastal areas has focused on large, conspicuous organisms, we highlight effects of tourist access on the diversity of microscopic marine animals (meiofauna). We used a DNA metabarcoding approach with an iterative and phylogeny-based approach for the taxonomic assignment of meiofauna and relate diversity patterns to the numbers of tourists accessing sandy beaches on an otherwise un-impacted island National Park. Tourist frequentation, independently of differences in sediment granulometry, beach length, and other potential confounding factors, affected meiofaunal diversity in the shallow "swash" zone right at the mean water mark; the impacts declined with water depth (up to 2 m). The indicated negative effect on meiofauna may have a consequence on all the biota including the higher trophic levels. Thus, we claim that it is important to consider restricting access to beaches in touristic areas, in order to preserve biodiversity. |
| Authors | Alejandro Martínez, Ester M. Eckert, Tom Artois, Giovanni Careddu, Marco Casu, Marco Curini-Galletti, Vittorio Gazale, Stefan Gobert, Viatcheslav N. Ivanenko, Ulf Jondelius, Marinella Marzano, Graziano Pesole, Aldo Zanello, M. Antonio Todaro, Diego Fontaneto |
| Text | 420140 2020 10.1038/s42003 020 0912 6 meiofauna Human access impacts biodiversity of microscopic animals in sandy beaches Alejandro Martinez, Ester M. Eckert, Tom Artois, Giovanni Careddu, Marco Casu, Marco Curini Galletti, Vittorio Gazale, Stefan Gobert, Viatcheslav N. Ivanenko, Ulf Jondelius, Marinella Marzano, Graziano Pesole, Aldo Zanello, M. Antonio Todaro, Diego Fontaneto Molecular Ecology Group MEG , Water Research Institute IRSA , National Research Council of Italy CNR , Verbania, Italy; Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium; Parco Nazionale dell Asinara, Area Marina Protetta, Porto Torres, Italy; Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Universita di Sassari, Sassari, Italy; Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; Department of Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden; Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies IBIOM , National Research Council of Italy CNR , Bari, Italy; Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Biotecnologie e Biofarmaceutica, Universita degli Studi di Bari A. Moro , Bari, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy Whereas most work to understand impacts of humans on biodiversity on coastal areas has focused on large, conspicuous organisms, we highlight effects of tourist access on the diversity of microscopic marine animals meiofauna . We used a DNA metabarcoding approach with an iterative and phylogeny based approach for the taxonomic assignment of meiofauna and relate diversity patterns to the numbers of tourists accessing sandy beaches on an otherwise un impacted island National Park. Tourist frequentation, independently of differences in sediment granulometry, beach length, and other potential confounding factors, affected meiofaunal diversity in the shallow swash zone right at the mean water mark; the impacts declined with water depth up to 2 m . The indicated negative effect on meiofauna may have a consequence on all the biota including the higher trophic levels. Thus, we claim that it is important to consider restricting access to beaches in touristic areas, in order to preserve biodiversity. 3 Published version https //www.nature.com/articles/s42003 020 0912 6 asin 2020 CommsBiol Martinez et al.pdf Articolo in rivista Springer Nature 2399 3642 Communications biology Communications biology Communications biology Commun. biology graziano.pesole PESOLE GRAZIANO marinella.marzano MARZANO MARINELLA diego.fontaneto FONTANETO DIEGO estermaria.eckert ECKERT ESTER MARIA alejandro.martinezgarcia MARTINEZ GARCIA ALEJANDRO |
