Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Ocean
Beach
Primary Dune
Trough
Secondary Dune
Back Dune
Bay or Lagoon
Intensive recreation,
no building
No direct passage
or building
Limited
recreation
and walkways
No direct passage
or building
Most suitable
for development
Intensive
recreation
Bay shore
No filling
Grasses or shrubs
Taller shrubs
Taller shrubs and trees
Figure 5-30
Natural capital:
primary and secondary dunes
on a gently sloping sandy bar-
rier beach or a barrier island
help protect land from erosion
by the sea. The roots of various
grasses that colonize the dunes
help hold the sand in place. Ide-
ally, construction would occur
only behind the second strip of
dunes, and walkways to the
beach would be built over the
dunes to keep them intact.
This helps preserve barrier
beaches and protect buildings
from damage by wind, high
tides, beach erosion, and storm
surges. Such protection is rare,
however, because the short-
term economic value of ocean-
front land is considered much
higher than its long-term eco-
logical and economic values.
Rising sea levels from global
warming may put many barrier
islands and beaches under
water by the end of this century.
Gray reef shark
Gray reef shark
Sea nettle
Sea nettle
Green sea
turtle
Green sea
turtle
Fairy basslet
Fairy basslet
Blue
tangs
Blue
tangs
Parrot fish
Parrot fish
Sergeant major
Sergeant major
Brittle star
Brittle star
Hard corals
Hard corals
Algae
Algae
Banded coral
shrimp
Banded coral
shrimp
Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton
Coney
Coney
Symbiotic
algae
Symbiotic
algae
Zooplankton
Zooplankton
Figure 5-31
Natural capital:
components and interactions in
a
coral reef ecosystem.
When
these organisms die, decom-
posers break down their organic
matter into minerals used by
plants. Colored arrows indicate
transfers of matter and energy
between producers; primary
consumers (herbivores); sec-
ondary, or higher-level, con-
sumers (carnivores); and de-
composers. Organisms are not
drawn to scale. See the photo of
a coral reef in Figure 5-23 (left).
Blackcap basslet
Blackcap basslet
Sponges
Sponges
Moray
eel
Moray
eel
Bacteria
Bacteria
Producer to
primary
consumer
Primary to
secondary
consumer
Secondary to
higher-level
consumer
All consumer
and producers
to decomposers
