We suggest that further long-term monitoring programmea focus on identifying the nature of changes may be the next challenge for sandy beach ecologists in particular on the European Atlantic coast that is being increasingly disturbed.
Herein, sandy beach ecologists have been enhancing the need to protect and restore the ecological structures, functions and values of beaches. However, the efficacy of any active management in this regard in the Portuguese coast is hindered by the lack of baseline information about poten- tial impacts acting on the ecosystems and the ecological responses of beach environment and biota.
Since the ecological relevance of exposed sandy beaches is not considered in the priority of these actions, we think that this study can be a first attempt to provide valuable information about the effects of the increase of human pressures that can potentially be translated into ecological impacts and jeopardise the entire ecosystem and the goods and services that humans directly derive from it.