Meiofaunal Adaptation to Environmental Variability and Human Trampling of Tropical Sandy Beaches at Goa, India

Physical disturbances have direct impact on sandy beach ecosystem. The old hypothesis of meiofauna as indicator of disturbance was tested for the assessment of health of sandy beaches. Two sandy beaches in Goa were sampled for meiofauna and sediment properties covering three seasons of the year. There were differences in physical and chemical properties of the sediment of two beaches. The meiofaunal density varied from 386 to 1222⁄ 10 cm2 (mean 712) at Caranzalem and 185 to 662⁄ 10 cm2 (mean 387) at Candolim. The meiofaunal assemblage revealed similar seasonal pattern but significant variation (p<0.01) in total abundance at two beaches. Percent composition of taxa differ at two beaches. The nematodes were the most dominant group with contribution of > 50% followed by harpacticoida polychaeta and turbellaria. General linear model of correlation matrix parameter revealed different relation on two beaches. The N:C ratio suggested its usefulness in disturbance study. The differences in meiofaunal abundance of the two beaches, could be attributed to variability in the physical environment. The trampling has led to changes in relative abundance of meiofaunal taxa at Candolim beach. This study further demonstrated the use of meiofauna in the health assessment of sandy beaches.