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With the launch of the UN Ocean Decade, the value of inclusive approaches encouraging better stewardship and improving the management of ocean resources has been increasingly advocated. Public engagement in marine issues through volunteering in marine conservation and science can be a tool to strengthen the connection to the ocean, stimulating behaviour change and support for solutions that can mitigate human impacts on marine environments and resources. This study investigated, through an international online survey, behavioural intentions to partake in marine volunteering among people with a vested interest in marine tourism and recreation, conservation and research. Particular focus was given to drivers, barriers and enablers in marine volunteering. The participants (N = 473) were interested in marine volunteering, driven mainly by ecocentric motives, self-development, and personal well-being. Important barriers to marine volunteering included money and access, with time and skills being secondary. While the participants were convinced they would participate in marine volunteering in the future, they agreed that information and education, time, better access and incentives would enable participation. Previous volunteering experience resulted in stronger drivers to participate in marine volunteering, and perspectives also varied according to demographic variables including age and educational background. The results of this study were used to guide strategies for marine volunteer recruitment, highlighting the importance of well-designed outreach campaigns, inclusivity, and partnerships to support marine volunteering as a positive form of public engagement in marine stewardship and science.

Marine environments provide ecosystem services jeopardised by human activities, resulting in impacts requiring urgent attention. In Europe and southern Mediterranean countries like Italy, marine environmental problems of note include marine litter, overfishing and climate change, among others. Public engagement is essential in mitigating these problems. In this context, investigating public perceptions and what influences these perceptions is necessary to design the right public engagement strategies. This study evaluated perceptions of marine environmental issues among coastal recreational users along the Conero Riviera in the Adriatic Sea. This is a location used for many coastal activities, affected by several human impacts and considered to become a marine protected area. A total of 202 coastal recreational users were interviewed regarding their perceptions of marine environmental issues including awareness, concern, observed changes in the local coast, and pro-environmental behaviours to combat marine environmental issues. Regression analysis was used to determine influential variables in perceptions. The participants were mainly aware of and concerned about issues including pollution, litter and overfishing. They had observed changes in the local coast primarily encompassing wildlife reduction, toxic algal growth and mucilage. They engaged in pro-environmental behaviours principally including recycling, litter collection and pollution reduction. Awareness of marine environmental issues influenced concern, while the observation of coastal changes and pro-environmental behaviours were mainly influenced by demographic variables like water use and gender. The results of this study were used to make recommendations concerning the design of communication and education campaigns and strategies to stimulate pro-environmental behaviours to support marine conservation.

Marine algae offer numerous extrinsic and intrinsic ecosystem services. Human impacts and climate change, however, have contributed to disrupting or compromising their ecology and distribution. Continuing research and monitoring of marine algae are pivotal but require public support. This study investigated public knowledge of and attitude towards marine algae and support for their research and monitoring. The focus was coastal users, a diversified group of interest for research into the perceptions of marine algae. The study was carried out in the Conero Riviera (Adriatic Sea, Italy), a location where coastal users come into contact with several types of marine algae. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2020 with 202 randomly selected scuba divers, beach and promenade visitors in the Riviera. Data analysis was thematic and statistical. Participants possessed basic knowledge of marine algae, which was more sophisticated among scuba divers. Coastal users ascribed both extrinsic and intrinsic values to marine algae. Most participants recognised the importance of protecting and managing marine algae while supported research and monitoring, prioritising types of marine algae which provide specific extrinsic and intrinsic ecosystem services. Based on the results, strategies of outreach, communication and engagement are suggested for the study location and types of coastal users. This study contributed to the growing body of research on Ocean Literacy, confirming the importance of investigating perceptions of marine resources to steer research, management and outreach strategies.

As marine protected areas (MPAs) face various coastal threats, including development, their incorporation into integrated coastal management (ICM) is essential. Stakeholder participation is a major, albeit poorly addressed, component of the integration of MPAs into ICM. Driven by shared interests and values, stakeholders can signal when coastal activities become unacceptable according to good governance principles of MPAs and ICM. This study assessed stakeholders’ perceptions of coastal development associated with an MPA in southern Mozambique. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and focus groups with 31 individuals representing five stakeholder groups. Stakeholders acknowledged the connection of MPAs with ICM at a sophisticated level, identifying coastal development threats potentially affecting the MPA, and proposing mitigation strategies. The results of this study confirmed the qualities of stakeholder participation to complement MPA management and offer guidance on ICM.

Public involvement in beach litter clean-ups can help tackle marine litter while providing experiential learning, raising awareness and stimulating anti-litter behaviour. Beach visitors contribute to litter generation by inappropriate discarding behaviour, and engaging them in litter removal can be beneficial. This study assessed visitors' (N = 512) stated willingness to participate in litter clean-ups at Elegushi Royal Beach, Nigeria, which is under pressure from litter problems visitors contribute to, and potentially emblematic of organised litter clean-ups. Beach visitors recognised marine litter as a global and national problem but did not perceive the case study beach as being littered. Willingness to participate in beach litter clean-ups was marginal. However, it was positively correlated with previous participation in litter clean-ups, perceived collective responsibility and the importance of policy and investments in reducing litter. These results were used to propose a framework to engage and recruit visitors in beach litter removal campaigns.

1. Most ecological studies require knowledge of animal abundance, but it can be challenging and destructive of habitat to obtain accurate density estimates for cryptic species, such as crustaceans that tunnel deeply into the seafloor, beaches, or mudflats. Such fossorial species are, however, widely used in environmental impact assessments, requiring sampling techniques that are reliable, efficient, and environmentally benign for these species and environments. 2. Counting and measuring the entrances of burrows made by cryptic species is commonly employed to index population and body sizes of individuals. The fundamental premise is that burrow metrics consistently predict density and size. Here we review the evidence for this premise. We also review criteria for selecting among sampling methods: burrow counts, visual censuses, and physical collections. 3. A simple 1:1 correspondence between the number of holes and population size cannot be assumed. Occupancy rates, indexed by the slope of regression models, vary widely between species and among sites for the same species. Thus, ‘average’ or ‘typical’ occupancy rates should not be extrapolated from site- or species specific field validations and then be used as conversion factors in other situations. 4. Predictions of organism density made from burrow counts often have large uncertainty, being double to half of the predicted mean value. Whether such prediction uncertainty is ‘acceptable’ depends on investigators' judgements regarding the desired detectable effect sizes. 5. Regression models predicting body size from burrow entrance dimensions are more precise, but parameter estimates of most models are specific to species and subject to site-to-site variation within species. 6. These results emphasise the need to undertake thorough field validations of indirect census techniques that include tests of how sensitive predictive models are to changes in habitat conditions or human impacts. In addition, new technologies (e.g. drones, thermal-, acoustic- or chemical sensors) should be used to enhance visual census techniques of burrows and surface-active animals.

Sandy beaches offer invaluable services, the overexploitation of which threatens their survival. Management responses may be inappropriate, focussing on limited aspects of beaches and neglecting key characteristics. This study developed and tested a new integrated assessment tool for sandy beaches, using seven recreational South African beaches as case study. The tool was based on a beach description matrix, forming the Beach Description Index; an assessment of beachgoers’ attitude and opinion, forming the Human Dimension Index; and a monetary assessment, forming the Monetary Index. Values for each index were classified according to management attention/recreational favourability, opinion/attitude, and economic value, respectively. The average of the indices formed a Beach Evaluation Index, which was used to rate the performance of and compare the case study beaches. Within limits, the evaluation tool successfully identified management priorities, public concerns, and economic aspects regarding the beaches, all of which can be generalised to other beaches worldwide.

Sandy beaches represent typical venues for recreation and tourism worldwide, as well as part of the lifestyle and identity of coastal communities. Their overexploitation, however, threatens their survival. Especially in urban areas, beach management requires balancing needs by different users and obligations to protect beach functions, including conservation. In light of this, research about the human dimension of beach ecosystems has been advanced as a way to assist planning and decision making in beach management. This study assessed beachgoers' perceptions of sandy beach conditions in South Africa, by means of a questionnaire survey. The effects of demographic profile, travelling habits, motivations to visit, and recreational preferences on beachgoers' perceptions of beach conditions were tested. Beachgoers shared a general concern for the wellbeing of sandy beaches, with particular reference to the state of biodiversity and conservation. They also gave great importance to the values underlying beach ecosystems. Three motivations to visit groups and four recreational preferences types were identified. Demography, travelling habits, motivations to visit, and recreational preferences all influenced perceptions of beach conditions. The results from this study were used to draw management recommendations, with particular attention towards the promotion of conservation while also maintaining the recreational quality of urban sandy beaches. The results also highlighted the relevance of considering users' views as a tool in decision-making processes in Integrated Coastal Zone Management.

Off-road vehicles (ORVs) are popular in coastal recreation, although they have negative impacts on sandy shores. In South Africa, ORVs are banned from most coastal areas, while some areas are designated for restricted ORV use, providing an opportunity to assess whether ORV traffic restrictions translate into biological returns. In Sodwana Bay, the impact of ORVs on ghost crab populations was investigated. During Easter 2012, ghost crab burrows were counted on beach sections open and closed to traffic. Burrow density in the Impact section was less than a third that of the Reference section, and by the end of the study burrow size in the Impact section was half that of the Reference section. ORV traffic caused a shift in burrow distribution to the Lower beach. However, differences in burrow densities between sections were 14 times smaller than differences obtained at a time when ORV use in Sodwana Bay was not controlled. While confirming the well-established detrimental effects of ORV use on sandy beach ecosystems, results demonstrated that traffic restrictions on beaches measurably minimize impacts to the fauna, thus translating into clear-cut biological returns. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00267-013-0223-5

Scuba diving is a growing form of tourism reflecting positively on the economy of coastal communities. However, any negative impacts associated with scuba diving need to be prevented to safeguard the critical ecosystem services provided by reefs. Studies have explored the behaviour of scuba divers by psychological and skill-related factors to formulate plans for the management of reefs and diving tourism. This study represents a contribution to the growing evidence concerning scuba divers' perceptions according to these factors. Scuba divers at Sodwana Bay, South Africa were interviewed on their diving motivations, excitement for marine life, experience, and perceptions of impacts, reef condition, and norms. It was hypothesised that motivations and marine life preferences had a significant relationship with scuba divers' perceptions and norms, and that experience mediated this relationship. Hypotheses were tested via structural equation modelling. Although motivations varied significantly according to diving experience, the hypotheses were not confirmed by the structural model. These findings highlight the importance of a stronger educational component across all diving specialisation levels, and emphasise the need to further research the potential links between psychological variables and behaviour in scuba divers.

Animal movement is a pivotal element of many ecological processes, and on ocean-exposed sandy shores, ghost crabs (genus Ocypode) undertake extensive nocturnal forays on the beach surface. Because crab populations are also threatened by vehicle traffic, indicators that can detect sublethal effects before population declines are manifest are important. To this end, we tested on a barrier island in Eastern Australia whether movement patterns of crabs respond predictably to disturbance by vehicles; this was done by tracking (using the spool-and-line technique) crabs at night in beach sections open and closed to traffic. Beach traffic not only halved population densities of crabs on the unvegetated beach seawards of the dunes, but it also fundamentally changed crab behaviour and movement: individuals from beach areas rutted by tyre tracks travelled shorter distances in a more erratic zigzag pattern, and they had significantly compressed home ranges. Such behavioural changes linked to human pressures could be well suited as an early warning signal for wider negative ecological impacts (as demonstrated by reduced abundances). They also emphasize the need to incorporate sublethal effects into the assessment and management of ecological changes resulting from beach recreation.

Beach and coastal dune systems are increasingly subjected to a broad range of anthropogenic pressures that on many shorelines require significant conservation and mitigation interventions. But these interventions require reliable data on the severity and frequency of adverse ecological impacts. Such evidence is often obtained by measuring the response of 'indicator species'.Ghost crabs are the largest invertebrates inhabiting tropical and subtropical sandy shores and are frequently used to assess human impacts on ocean beaches. Here we present the first global meta-analysis of these impacts, and analyse the design properties and metrics of studies using ghost-crabs in their assessment. This was complemented by a gap analysis to identify thematic areas of anthropogenic pressures on sandy beach ecosystems that are under-represented in the published literature.Our meta-analysis demonstrates a broad geographic reach, encompassing studies on shores of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans, as well as the South China Sea. It also reveals what are, arguably, two major limitations: i) the near-universal use of proxies (i.e. burrow counts to estimate abundance) at the cost of directly measuring biological traits and bio-markers in the organism itself; and ii) descriptive or correlative study designs that rarely extend beyond a simple 'compare and contrast approach', and hence fail to identify the mechanistic cause(s) of observed contrasts.Evidence for a historically narrow range of assessed pressures (i.e., chiefly urbanisation, vehicles, beach nourishment, and recreation) is juxtaposed with rich opportunities for the broader integration of ghost crabs as a model taxon in studies of disturbance and impact assessments on ocean beaches. Tangible advances will most likely occur where ghost crabs provide foci for experiments that test specific hypotheses associated with effects of chemical, light and acoustic pollution, as well as the consequences of climate change (e.g. species range shifts).

Coastal dunes are increasingly at risk due to pressures deriving from global climate change, sea level rise, recreation and development. The consequences of the “coastal squeeze” in which dunes are placed, such as erosion and the loss of critical ecosystem services, are usually followed by expensive restoration and protection measures, many of which are unsuccessful. Due to the poor understanding and acknowledgement of the key attributes of coastal dunes in decision making processes, it is essential to provide scientific data on the impacts of human interference on coastal dunes so as to inform executives and guide them towards a sustainable management of the coastal zone. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of five different levels of infrastructure development on the vegetation community structure of coastal dunes in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. The effects of infrastructure development on dune vegetation were quantified by measuring the richness, diversity, cover, height and composition of plant species. With an increase in infrastructure development a significant decrease in dune width, average species richness and height of the plants occurred, accompanied by a shift in plant community composition. The foredunes that were backed immediately by infrastructure presented significantly greater species richness, diversity, cover and height compared with the foredunes abutted by primary dunes. This study demonstrated that coastal dunes are environments which are sensitive to varying levels of human impact. Informed and comprehensive management planning of these environments is therefore imperative for the restoration and maintenance of remnant dunes and for the conservation of undeveloped coastal dunes.

Increased storminess is a likely consequence of global climate change; its effects may be most dramatic on coasts dominated by sandy beaches. This scenario demands that the impacts of storms and the role of armouring structures, constructed as storm defences, are better understood. Here, we assess how a relatively small storm affected beach morphology and macrobenthos, and whether a seawall can modulate such impacts. The study system was a small (