Front cover -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Table of contents -- Acknowledgements -- 1: Introduction -- 2: The Physical Environment -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Sand -- 2.3 Waves -- 2.4 Other Drivers of Water Movement -- 2.5 Sand Transport -- 2.6 Interactions Among Beach Slope, Waves, Tides, and Sand -- 2.7 Beach Indices -- 2.8 Beach Types -- 2.9 Circulation Cells and Mixing -- 2.10 Embayments and Headlands -- 2.11 Swash Climate -- 2.12 Slope -- 2.13 Latitudinal Effects -- 2.14 Conclusions -- 3: The Interstitial Environment -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Characteristics of the System -- 3.3 Processes of Water Input -- 3.4 Water Filtration -- 3.5 Water Table Fluctuations -- 3.6 Interstitial Chemistry -- 3.7 The Interstitial Environment -- 3.8 Conclusions -- 4: Beach and Surf-zone Flora -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Benthic Microflora -- 4.3 Surf-zone Phytoplankton -- 4.4 Seagrasses -- 4.5 Conclusions -- 5: Sandy-beach Invertebrates -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Important Groups -- 5.3 Conclusions -- 6: Adaptations to Sandy-beach Life -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Locomotion -- 6.3 Rhythms of Activity -- 6.4 Sensory Responses and Orientation -- 6.5 Choice of Habitat -- 6.6 Nutrition -- 6.7 Respiration -- 6.8 Environmental Tolerances -- 6.9 Reproduction -- 6.10 Aggregations and Gregariousness -- 6.11 Avoidance of Predators -- 6.12 Phenotypic Plasticity -- 6.13 Conclusions -- 7: Benthic Macrofauna Communities -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Sampling -- 7.3 Taxonomic Composition -- 7.4 Macroscale Patterns -- 7.5 Mesoscale Patterns -- 7.6 Microscale Patterns -- 7.7 Trophic Relations -- 7.8 Conclusions -- 8: Benthic Macrofauna Populations -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Macroscale Patterns -- 8.3 Mesoscale Patterns -- 8.4 Microscale Patterns -- 8.5 Invertebrate Fisheries -- 8.6 Conclusions -- 9: Interstitial Ecology -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 Interstitial Climate.

9.3 Sampling -- 9.4 Interstitial Biota -- 9.5 Distribution of Interstitial Fauna -- 9.6 Temporal Changes -- 9.7 Meiofaunal Communities -- 9.8 Trophic Relationships -- 9.9 Biological Interactions -- 9.10 Meiofauna and Pollution -- 9.11 Conclusions -- 10: Surf-zone Fauna -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Zooplankton -- 10.3 Fishes -- 10.4 Other Groups -- 10.5 Conclusions -- 11: Turtles and Terrestrial Vertebrates -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 Turtles -- 11.3 Birds -- 11.4 Conclusions -- 12: Energetics and Nutrient Cycling -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 Food Sources -- 12.3 Macroscopic Food Chains -- 12.4 Interstitial Food Chains -- 12.5 The Microbial Loop in Surf Waters -- 12.6 Energy Flow in Beach and Surf-zone Ecosystems -- 12.7 Case Study: Sandy Beaches of the Eastern Cape -- 12.8 Nutrient Cycling -- 12.9 Conclusions -- 13: Coastal Dune Ecosystems and Dune/Beach Interactions -- 13.1 Introduction -- 13.2 The Physical Environment -- 13.3 Coastal Dune Formation by Vegetation -- 13.4 Dune Types -- 13.5 Edaphic Features -- 13.6 Water -- 13.7 The Gradient Across Coastal Dunefields -- 13.8 Dune Vegetation -- 13.9 The Fauna -- 13.10 Food Chains -- 13.11 Dune/Beach Exchanges -- 13.12 A Case Study of Dune/Beach Exchanges -- 13.13 Conclusions -- 14: Human Impacts -- 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 Pollution -- 14.3 Recreational Activities -- 14.4 Global Warming -- 14.5 Direct Human Pressure -- 14.6 Altering the Landscape -- 14.7 Natural Impacts -- 14.8 Human Influence on the Evolution of Beaches -- 14.9 Conclusions -- 15: Coastal Zone Management -- 15.1 Introduction -- 15.2 The Littoral Active Zone -- 15.3 Summary of Threats -- 15.4 Principles of Coastal Zone Management -- 15.5 Management, Planning, and Implementation -- 15.6 Case Studies -- 15.7 Conservation -- 15.8 Conclusions -- 16: Glossary -- 17: References -- 18: Appendices -- Appendix A: Measures of Beach Type.

Appendix B: The Chemical Environment of Sediments -- Index.