Grupo de Geografía Física y Medio Ambiente, Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Unidad Asociada ULPGC-CSIC, Spain.
J Environ Manage. 2019 Jun 15;240:311-320. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.096. Epub 2019 Apr 4.
Human occupancy of beaches is an important cause of environmental and landscape transformations, some of which are identifiable through vegetation analysis. Commonly, arboreal vegetation has been socially perceived in a positive way, as it contributes to the creation of environments appreciated as beautiful and natural. This type of vegetation has been recreated in urban coastal areas worldwide, including those located in arid environments where it is not always common or endemic to these areas. The typology of plant species, human impacts on beach environments, and the social perception of vegetation contrast were analyzed to understand the landscape influence and human impact on beach environments from arid regions. The study was carried out on 12 beaches with different degrees of human occupation (4 urban, 4 semi-urban and 4 natural) in Gran Canaria island (Spain). The results indicate that the number of exotic and ruderal (first to colonize human disturbed environments) species increases with human occupation of the beaches. A greater number of arboreal species were identified on urban beaches, while shrub and herbaceous species were more common on less occupied beaches (semi-urban and natural). However, when surveyed, the users of semi-urban and natural beaches, considered that arboreal vegetation compose a more attractive landscape than other with herbs or shrubs, even though tree species appear occasionally on these types of beaches. This inconsistency identifies a conflict of values between the development and conservation of beaches in arid environments. This study can be used to establish environmental sustainability strategies on beaches. Conservation and environmental information about ecosystem services related with indigenous plant species is and important issue for integrated management on beaches from arid regions, especially those that may be urbanized in the near future.
人类在海滩上的活动是环境和景观变化的一个重要原因，其中一些可以通过植被分析来识别。通常情况下，树木植被在社会上被认为是积极的，因为它有助于创造被认为美丽和自然的环境。这种植被已经在世界范围内的城市沿海地区被重新创造，包括那些位于干旱环境中的地区，在这些地区，它并不总是常见或特有的。本文分析了植物物种类型、人类对海滩环境的影响以及对植被的社会认知差异，以了解干旱地区海滩环境的景观影响和人类影响。该研究在大加那利岛（西班牙）的 12 个海滩上进行，这些海滩的人类活动程度不同（4 个城市、4 个半城市和 4 个自然）。结果表明，随着海滩人类活动的增加，外来物种和先锋物种（首先在人类干扰环境中定居的物种）的数量增加。城市海滩上的树木种类更多，而灌木和草本植物在人类活动较少的海滩（半城市和自然）上更为常见。然而，当调查半城市和自然海滩的使用者时，他们认为树木植被比其他草本或灌木构成更有吸引力的景观，尽管这些类型的海滩偶尔也会出现树种。这种不一致性表明，在干旱环境中，海滩的开发和保护之间存在价值冲突。本研究可用于制定海滩的环境可持续性战略。保护和有关生态系统服务的环境信息与干旱地区海滩的综合管理有关，特别是那些在不久的将来可能会城市化的海滩。
