Ecosystem level analysis of sandy beaches using thermodynamic and network analyses: A study case in the NW Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Sandy beaches along the Ligurian coast (NW Mediterranean Sea) are here studied through thermodynamic and network analyses aiming at the identification of typical ecological features of transitional environments. A general model of sandy Ligurian beaches microbenthic loop subsystems is here proposed taking into consideration the across beach gradient spatial variation. Results revealed highest values of activity, complexity, diversity and organization in the swash zone. This makes the swash zone a peculiar and fragile sub-system in the context of sandy beach ecosystems highly adapted to severe environmental constraints. Swash zone is thus here considered as a specific sub-system where the low resource availability and the oscillating environmental parameters (e.g. temperature, dryness, wave physical action) allow only the highly evolved and adapted organisms to survive.