Short- and long-term responses of nourishments: Barra-Vagueira coastal stretch,Portugal

Dredged material resulting from deepening and maintenance activities of the Aveiro Harbor inlet channel, northwestern coast of Portugal, has been used to mitigate the erosion trend recorded on nearby beaches (from Barra to Costa Nova Beach) through direct placement of sand by using standard dredge equipment. The disposal activities of dredged material have been undertaken at two main sites: between the south breakwater and the 1st groin of Costa Nova (dumping area 1, DA1) and between the 3rd and the 5th groin of Costa Nova (dumping area 2, DA2).The sand was placed in the nearshore, between the ?2 and ?7 m Chart Datum, CD, contours.In this study, short- and long-term coastal morphologic changes in the sea bottom, in response to several nourishment operations and to the incoming waves, within the dumping area boundaries are investigated based on a data set of hydrographic surveys collected annually, just before and after the nourishments, between 2009 and 2015. Preliminary results describing the main morphologic changes, evolution trends, sediment budget variations, and nourishments performance are discussed using mainly Geographic Information System techniques. Overall, the analysis demonstrates that the short-term losses in the dumping areas (one month of interval) can reach 50% of the nourished volume, revealing a significant movement of the fill material towards offshore. Seasonal variations promoting cross-shore material exchange can also prevail and misrepresent the sediment balances, if the monitoring area is not comprehensive. Furthermore, some bathymetric analysis suggested that longshore transport gradients have moved the fill material from Barra beach to downdrift areas. All the obtained results contribute to the ongoing discussion about the effectiveness of nearshore sand placements especially in context of an energetic environment.     

Evaluating surrogates of genetic diversity for conservation planning

Protected-area systems should conserve intraspecific genetic diversity. Because genetic data require resources to obtain, several approaches have been proposed for generating plans for protected-area systems (prioritizations) when genetic data are not available. Yet such surrogate-based approaches remain poorly tested. We evaluated the effectiveness of potential surrogate-based approaches based on microsatellite genetic data collected across the Iberian Peninsula for 7 amphibian and 3 reptilian species. Long-term environmental suitability did not effectively represent sites containing high genetic diversity (allelic richness). Prioritizations based on long-term environmental suitability had similar performance to random prioritizations. Geographic distances and resistance distances based on contemporary environmental suitability were not always effective surrogates for identification of combinations of sites that contain individuals with different genetic compositions. Our results demonstrate that population genetic data based on commonly used neutral markers can inform prioritizations, and we could not find an adequate substitute. Conservation planners need to weigh the potential benefits of genetic data against their acquisition costs.