Search

The present work is a part of the impact study of the tourist resort "Taghazout Bay" installation on the coast of Taghazout (North of the Agadir bay). The purpose of this study was to assess the initial state of the macrozoobenthic structure present in the intertidal sands at the three study stations over the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The biological approach was accompanied by the study of some physico-chemical parameters of the seawater (temperature, pH, salinity and dissolved oxygen) and the study of the sediment (grading structure, classification, and contents in organic matter). PCA analysis identified a perfect correlation between the physico-chemical parameters. The sediment contains three grading classes only (medium sand, fine sand, and very fine sand), very well classified with normal proportions of organic matter. The study of intertidal benthic macrofauna of the sandy substrate shows ten species and spatiotemporal variations with a clear dominance of the Donax trunculus bivalve species. The authors noticed - from the DIMO model - that the variation profile of the spring and summer (2016 and 2017) shows a community dynamics called "Diversity type". In winter and in autumn, they are known as the "Evenness type". The rank-frequency diagram explains that the benthic community of Taghazout sandy coast exists in the stage "Pioneer 1". The ascending hierarchical clustering gave three logical gatherings of seasons. The faunistic structure of this benthic community revealed the M>C>P shape. The authors also noticed that there is diversity in regimes in this ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some plant communities of coastal dunes may affect the magnitude and distribution of litter on the ecosystem. In this study, the aim is to assess the aptitude of the halophyte Cakile maritima Scop. 1772 to be a trap and sink of plastic litter on the Moroccan Atlantic coast. Overall, a significant difference was noted between plastic litter trapped in C. maritima patches (1173 items) and control plots (502 items). Food containers and ropes were the most common trapped items. Shoreline and recreational activities, followed by dumping and ocean/waterway activities are the main sources of the trapped plastic items. The findings suggest the expansion of the cleaning operations to include coastal dunes, the need to change behavior among beachgoers in regard to food plastics disposal, as well the control of C. maritima distribution in the study area, and similar plant species in other regions. • First evidence of plastic entrapment by the invasive halophyte Cakile maritima • A total of 1173 plastic items found trapped in the C. maritima patches • Shoreline and recreational activities are the main sources of the plastic items. • Necessity of regular monitoring of C. maritima distribution in the study area [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work describes the spatiotemporal analysis of microplastics (MPs) pollution in sediments collected on a high urbanized beach located in Taghazout coast, central Atlantic part of Morocco. The study area is mainly composed of moderately well-sorted fine sands with an average density of MPs that ranged between 915 MPs/kg in 2018 and 1448 MPs/kg in 2019. The most polluted sites were in the south part of Taghazout coast, close to facilities of where beachgoers are often found. Microplastic Pollution Index (MPPI), Microplastic Impact Coefficient (CMPI), Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC), and Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) revealed spatiotemporal variation of MPs pollution. Thus, the principal component analysis (PCA) showed a low correlation between the sediment characteristics (i.e., grain size, sorting, skewness) and MPs densities. Overall, the outputs of this baseline recommend implementing plastic management strategies to eliminate or at least minimize the collateral effects generated by MPs pollution in sediments of urbanized beaches. • Spatiotemporal study of microplastic pollution in sediments from urban beaches • Beach environment composed by fine sands moderately to well sorted. • Microplastics densities raised from 915 MPs/kg in 2018 to1448 MPs/kg in 2019. • Fibers were the dominant shape, following by fragments, pellets, and films. • Low correlation between sediment characteristics and microplastic densities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a quantitative and qualitative diagnosis of the current state of marine litter along the northern coastline of Agadir, located on the central Atlantic coast of Morocco. For this, three beaches were surveyed: Taghazout beach, Aourir beach, and Anza beach. Litter densities were highest at Anza beach (D = 1.041 items/m2), followed by Aourir beach (D = 0.339 items/m2), and then Taghazout beach (D = 0.226 items/m2). Plastics represent 79% of all collected items, and they are mainly composed of caps/lids, food containers, other plastic, cigarette butts and filters, polystyrene pieces, small plastic bags, and drink bottles. Metal is the second litter item in number, followed by paper/cardboard, rubber, cloth/textile, wood, and glass/ceramic. The Clean Coast Index (CCI) shows a clean and moderately clean state in the Taghazout and Aourir beaches, while Anza beach is more polluted. The EA/NALG classification showed that all three beaches are classified as "D," i.e., dirty or poor-quality beaches. Dendrogram analysis showed very highly polluted areas (Anza 1), highly polluted areas (Taghazout 4 and 5; Anza 2; Aourir 3), moderately polluted areas (Taghazout 1 and 2; Aourir 1), and lightly polluted areas (Taghazout 3). Based on the obtained results, we can conclude that tourism and recreational activities were the primary source of marine litter (over 50%), followed by fishing activity (25%). Efforts are necessary to improve the quality of beaches located on the central Atlantic coast of Morocco. The typology of solutions suggested in this work can be divided into four approaches: cleaning, prevention, mitigation, and the most important ... behavior change. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]