The wing-shape morphology of local populations of the medically important phlebotomine sand flies, Phlebotomus sergenti, P. papatasi, P. tobbi, and P. similis, were examined in both sexes by using geometric morphometrics. There are three major mountain ranges that may serve as geographical barriers for species distribution in the study area and four main gaps were recognized among these barrier...

Coastal sand dunes have attracted the attention of plant ecologists for over a century, but they have largely relied on correlations to explain dune plant community organization. We examined long-standing hypotheses experimentally that sand binding, inter-specific interactions, abiotic factors and seedling recruitment are drivers of sand dune plant community structure in Sardinia, Italy. Removi...

Spatial data acquisition is a critical process for the identification of the coastline and coastal zones for scientists involved in the study of coastal morphology. The availability of very high-resolution digital surface models (DSMs) and orthophoto maps is of increasing interest to all scientists, especially those monitoring small variations in the earth’s surface, such as coastline morpholog...

A model that predicts sediment transport due to wind action can be valuable addition to hydrodynamic models to describe the long-term interaction between land and water. This thesis presents the application of an aeolian transport model [Sauermann et al., 2001, Kroy et al., 2002] as a tool for the evolution of coastal nourishments and dunes. The model was originally developed to describe import...

Australian beach sand is a productive habitat for lower brachyceran fly larvae but often overlooked by collectors. We collected two species of tabanid larvae from coastal beach sand in southern New South Wales in August 2013. Both species belong to the Dasybasis macrophthalma species-group of Mackerras (1959), one a new species, and the other D. exulans (Erichson, 1842). We describe both new im...

Measurement of radioactive dose rates in fine sediment that has recently deposited on channel bed-sand provides a solution to address the lack of continuous river monitoring in Fukushima Prefecture after Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP) accident. We show that coastal rivers of Eastern Fukushima Prefecture were rapidly supplied with sediment contaminated by radionuclides originatin...

The coastal ecosystems are considered as one of the most dynamic and vulnerable environments under various anthropogenic developments and the effects of climate change. Variations in the composition and diversity of microbial communities may be a good indicator for determining whether the marine ecosystems are affected by complex forcing stressors. DNA sequence-based metagenomics has recently e...

Climate change is altering sea level rise rates and precipitation patterns worldwide. Coastal wetlands are vulnerable to these changes. System responses to stressors are important for resource managers and environmental stewards to understand in order to best manage them. Thin layer sand or sediment application to drowning and eroding marshes is one approach to build elevation and resilience. T...

Anthropogenic activities have an impact on the coastal environment, even small islands with little economic activity. This is evident in Manamoc Island, Cuyo, Palawan. Knowledge and understanding of these impacts will enable policymakers to formulate policies arresting problem. study focused establishing shoreline trends using sand boundary as a proxy determining specific physical or natural pr...

Sedimentation is recognized as a major factor determining the ecosystem processes of lake beaches; however, the underlying mechanisms, especially in freshwater sand dunes, have been insufficiently studied. To this end, nine belt transects from nine freshwater sand dunes, classified into low (<23.7 m), medium (25.4-26.0 m), and high-elevation groups (>28.1 m) based on their elevations in 1972, w...