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Reef‐associated landforms are coupled to the health of the reef ecosystem which produces the sediment that forms and maintains these landforms. However, this connection can make reef‐fronted coastlines sensitive to the impacts of climate change, given that any decline in ecosystem health (e.g. decreasing sediment supply) or changes to physical processes (e.g. sea level rise, increasing wave energy) could drive the sediment budgets of these systems into a net erosive state. Therefore, knowledge of both the sediment sources and transport mechanisms is required to predict the sensitivity of reef‐associated landforms to future climate change. Here, we examine the benthic habitat composition, sediment characteristics (composition, texture, and age), and transport mechanisms and pathways to understand the interconnections between coastal morphology and the reef system at Tantabiddi, Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. Benthic surveys and sediment composition analysis revealed that although live coral accounts for less than 5% of the benthic cover, coral is the dominant sediment constituent (34% on average). Sediment ages (238U/230Th) were mostly found to be thousands of years old, suggesting that the primary sediment source is relic reef material (e.g. Holocene reef framework). Sediment transport across the lagoon was quantified through measurements of ripple migration rates, which were found to be shoreward migrating and responsible for feeding the large shoreline salient in the lee of the reef. The derived sediment fluxes were comparable with previously measured rates of sediment production by bioerosion. These results suggest that sediment budgets of systems dependent on old (>103 years) source materials may be more resilient to climate change as present‐day reef health and community composition (i.e. sources of 'new' carbonate production) have limited influence on sediment supply. Therefore, the vulnerability of reef‐associated landforms in these systems will be dictated by future changes to mechanisms of sediment generation (e.g. bioerosion) and/or physical processes. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Ecological, sedimentological, and sediment transport data were analysed to understand the interconnections between coastal morphology and reef ecology within a fringing reef system. The sediment reservoir is predominantly derived from 'old' source material (≥ 1400 years old) but this material is supplied to the shoreline on modern timescales. These results suggest that sediment budgets of similar reef systems may be more resilient to climate change as contemporary reef health and community composition have limited influence on sediment supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An alongshore array of pressure sensors and a cross-shore array of current velocity and pressure sensors were deployed on a barred beach in southwestern Australia to estimate the relative response of edge waves and leaky waves to variable incident wind wave conditions. The strong sea breeze cycle at the study site (wind speeds frequently > 10 m s−1) produced diurnal variations in the peak frequency of the incident waves, with wind sea conditions (periods 2 to 8 s) dominating during the peak of the sea breeze and swell (periods 8 to 20 s) dominating during times of low wind. We observed that edge wave modes and their frequency distribution varied with the frequency of the short-wave forcing (swell or wind-sea) and edge waves were more energetic than leaky waves for the duration of the 10-day experiment. While the total infragravity energy in the surf zone was higher during swell forcing, edge waves were more energetic during wind-sea periods. However, low-frequency (0.005–0.023 Hz) edge waves were found to be dominant in absence of wind-sea conditions, while higher-frequency (0.023–0.050 Hz) edge waves dominated when wind-sea conditions were present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]