Question

Explain some environmental factors that include the formation and maintenance of sandy coasts

Answer 1

Answer- Sandy coasts formed by deposition of particles that have been carried by currents and waves of water bodies. Sandy shores are highly dynamic environments, have a characteristic biodiversity and represent a unique gradient of habitats.

This area remains covered part of the day by water and in a part of the day it becomes exposed to air. Swash and tides supply nutrients and food for creatures living there. When the tide retreats, waste products, eggs and larvae are taken away. Thus, organisms living on sandy shores have adapted to this dynamic environment.

Burrowing on high-energy sandy beaches must be rapid and effective. This is because the animals must not be swept away by uprushing and downrushing water. In contrast with rocky shores, desiccation is not an overriding concern, because the animals can retreat into the substratum or below the water table. Some adaptations are an increased ventilation rate, an increased ventilation efficiency, reduced metabolic rate or other ways of energy economy. Many sheltered-shore animals are facultative anaerobes as an adaptation to regular tides.