Bibliography: leaves 188-199. / Previous sandy beach research described beach macrofaunal communities according to the swash exclusion hypothesis (SEH). This hypothesis stated that more species are present on fine grained, flat dissipative beaches due to a more benign swash climate. It suggested that, as beach morphodynamics change to reflective conditions, which is experienced on coarse, steep beaches, few species can survive; these beaches are therefore characterised by lower macrofaunal diversities, abundance and biomass. Furthermore, little proof has been obtained of biological interactions such as competition or predation, and beaches have been described as physically controlled environments. The aim of this investigation was therefore to redifine the SEH in more specific terms, preferably into a form that is experimentally testable, and to find evidence of biological interactions that could be important enough to modify/explain population or community structures. Furthermore, the study aimed to find experimental procedures to serve as alternatives to the previously correlative type approach.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/6146 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Nel, Petronella |
| Contributors | Brown, Alec C, Griffiths, Charles L, McLachlan, Anton |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Science, Department of Biological Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral Thesis, Doctoral, PhD |
| Format | application/pdf |
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