A hidden world teeming with life lies below beach sands. New Stanford-led research sheds light on how microbial communities in coastal groundwater respond to infiltrating seawater. The study, published Dec. 22 in Environmental Microbiology, reveals the diversity of microbial life inhabiting these critical ecosystems and what might happen if they are inundated by rising seas.
"Beaches can act as a filter between land and sea, processing groundwater and associated chemicals before they reach the ocean," said study co-first author Jessica Bullington, a PhD student in Earth system science in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. "Understanding how these ecosystems function is key to safeguarding their services in the face of sea level rise."
The research team conducted the intensive study at Stinson Beach, north of San Francisco. Stinson Beach is representative of a "high-energy" beach, which has only a handful of previous papers on the microbiome worldwide.
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Stanford researchers Jessica Bullington and Jacob Phaneuf collect samples from beach groundwater. | Christopher Francis
