Do sandy beaches accumulate nitrogen?

Abstract

ABSTRACT: A moderate-energy sandy beach receiving a hlgh natural organic load of stranded wrack was studied over 1 yr. Nitrogen input to the beach was calculated from wrack nitrogen content, an average standing stock of 72 kg m-' wet wrack and a turnover time of 9 d, estimated from litter bag (2mm mesh) experiments. Nitrogen in the beach was mea- sured as bacterial biomass (mean 105 g N m-'), meiofauna biomass (mean 0.1 g N m-') and interstitial water inorganic nitrogen (mean 83 g N m-'). Wrack nitrogen input was in excess of 14 kg N m-' yr-l. Despite receiving a high nitrogen load, this beach dld not exhibit any net accumulation of nitrogen over the year.