Effects of human trampling on tidalflat infauna

Abstract

1.?Human trampling has been shown to be detrimental to the survival of fauna of terrestrial habitats and on rocky coastal areas. However, its effects on saltmarsh benthic infauna were not known.

2.?The abundance of macro-benthic fauna at five locations on a transect across a footpath on the emergent marsh and on the tidalflat at Lindisfarne NNR were sampled during the summer 1994 and winter 1995.

3.?The abundances of dominant taxa increased in summer in the intensely trampled path on the unvegetated tidalflat leading to a change in the community structure. These changes were not apparent when the trampling intensity was lower in winter.

4.?The abundances of dominant taxa at a less intensively trampled site in the vegetated emergent marsh did not change in either season.

5.?The susceptibility of the saltmarsh infauna to human trampling depends on the intensity of trampling disturbance and on the nature of the habitat. The possible effects of human trampling on the macrofauna in these intertidal habitats are discussed with reference to coastal management.