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| Last Updated:: 25/04/2014

Potential impact of sand mining on macrobenthic community at Kalbadevi Beach, Ratnagiri, West coast of India

 

Potential impact of sand mining on macrobenthic community at Kalbadevi Beach, Ratnagiri, West coast of India

 

 

SIVADAS, S., SAUTYE, S, NANAJKAR, M. & INGOLE, B.

National Institute of Oceanography,
Dona Paula, Goa-403004.

 

Citation: National Seminar on Development Planning of Coastal Placer Minerals (PLACER - 2005), eds. Loveson, V.J.; Chandrasekar, N.; Sinha, A.

 

Issue Date: 2005

Publisher: Allied, India

 

 

ABSTRACT

 

The intertidal area at Kalbadevi, Ratnagiri has been identified as one of the potential sites for placer minerals along the west coast of India. Considering the prospects of commercial mining, benthic sampling was conducted during February and May 2004 on the exposed intertidal beach to study the community structure and effect of physical disturbances on the macro benthic community. Sampling was carried out with a metallic quadrant (0.25m2 area) on ten fixed transects (≅ 500m apart) covering the entire beach. Sand was the major component of the beach sediment and ranged from 91-99%. The grain size ranged from 0.1-0.25 mm. Sediment in the south and north of the beach comprised of finer particles compared to the central stations. Sediment organic carbon was generally low and varied from 0.1 to 0.7%. Macro fauna was comprised of 31 taxa. Polychaeta dominated in species composition (43%) whereas gastropod, Umbonium vestiarium (Linne, 1758) dominated the macro benthic density (>45%). In general, the abundance and species composition differed from the other sandy beaches along the west coast of India. Macro fauna showed a significant spatial variation along and across- the shore. Southern transect dominated in the terms of species diversity and abundance followed by the northern transect. The stimulated disturbance carried out during February 2004 resulted in reduction of macro faunal density (56%), biomass (99%) and diversity (66%). The reduction was mainly due to physical removal of sediment. However, the macro faunal parameters returned to the pre-disturbances values within a period of two months after disturbances, suggesting short-term impact of physical disturbances.

 

 

(Source:http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/873)

 

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