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Sand dune ecology describes the biological and physico-chemical interactions that are a characteristic of sand dunes. Sand dune systems are excellent places for biodiversity, partly because they are not very productive for agriculture, and partly because disturbed, stressful, and stable habitats are present in proximity to each other.
Spinifex is a genus of perennial coastal plants in the grass family. [2] [3] [4] [5]They are one of the most common plants that grow in sand dunes along the coasts of Africa, Middle East, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia, with the ranges of some species extending north and west along the coasts of Asia as far as India and Japan. [6]
The plant's spread has changed the topography of some California beach ecosystems, especially in sand dunes. The presence of this grass was a major cause of the destruction of native dune habitat in Oregon and Washington during the 20th century, [19] where it was planted precisely for its dune-stabilizing effect. [20]
The use led to sand drift and loss of arable land. Hence, legislation promoting dune stabilization came into force in 1779 and 1792, successively leading to a system of state-supported dune planters overlooked by dune bailiffs. Marram grass was – and still is – propagated by root and shoot cuttings dug up locally and planted into the naked ...
The dunes emulate soliton behavior, but unlike solitons, which flow through a medium leaving it undisturbed (similar to waves passing through water), the sand particles themselves are moved. When the smaller dune catches up the larger dune, the winds begin to deposit sand on the rear dune while blowing sand off the front dune without ...
Psammosere's literal meaning is “originating on sand". It was named by Frederic E. Clements who described the sequence in Plant Succession 1916, [3] although it had also been observed by Henry Chandler Cowles after he conducted several studies on the sand dunes surrounding Lake Michigan, which was influenced by the work of Eugenius Warming.
Star dunes are formed by variable winds, and have several ridges and slip faces radiating from a central point. They tend to grow vertically; they can reach a height of 500 m (1,600 ft), making them the tallest type of dune. Rounded mounds of sand without a slip face are the rare dome dunes, found on the upwind edges of sand seas. [59]
The shingle, strandline and sand-dune communities consist of a single community found on coastal shingle , two communities associated with strandlines (SD2 and SD3), and sixteen sand-dune communities. The sand-dune communities fall into the following four groups: six foredune and mobile dune communities (SD4, SD5, SD6, SD7, SD10 and SD19)