Sandy shoreline

Description

Sandy shoreline is an exposed, physically dynamic ecosystem consisting of a surf zone, sandy beach and sand dune systems (Brown and McLachlan, 2002). Owing to its unstable substrate, sandy shoreline is a dynamic ecosystem that is typically hostile to biota. Biotic assemblages are primarily structured by physical forces, which include erosion, deposition of sediment throughout the adjacent surf, beach and dune zones (Defeo et al., 2009; Luijendijk et al., 2018).

Assessment summary

Although restricted to the coastline, this ecosystem is widely distributed and appears to be mostly stable in extent. Transect-based remote sensing assessments of beach erosion indicate that, despite a median net erosion of - -0.044m/yr occurring across all sandy shoreline transects in Myanmar (n = 961 transects), no more than 19.5% of transects met erosion thresholds to qualify as threatened. The ecosystem is therefore assessed as Least Concern.