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Coastal dune restoration often focuses on weed removal to reestablish native vegetation communities. Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) initiated large‐scale dune restoration after becoming concerned about loss of dune and rare species habitat from spread of non‐nativeAmmophila arenaria(European beachgrass). Two projects removed beachgrass from 146 ha of heavily invaded dunes using either mechanical removal or herbicide treatment. PRNS conducted pre‐ and post‐restoration vegetation monitoring for 10 years post‐implementation, evaluating success in (1) eradicating beachgrass and (2) reestablishing vegetation communities similar to native dunes in cover, diversity, and species composition. Both methods eradicated beachgrass with annual retreatment. However, they were less successful in rebuilding vegetation communities with comparable native species cover and/or richness. Mechanical removal areas remained largely barren expanses of sand that struggled to support native plants except for a rare perennial, Tidestrom's lupine (Lupinus tidestromii). Tidestrom's lupine and other rare plants now number in the hundreds of thousands. Conversely, herbicide‐treated backdunes were dominated by standing dead beachgrass that resisted decomposition even after 7 years, which hampered native and rare plant establishment. Delayed decomposition was less of an issue in herbicide‐treated foredunes, because sand overwash buried necromass. Restored areas also contended with subsequent invasion by secondary plant invaders. By 2021, only older herbicide‐treated backdunes, and to a lesser extent, mechanical backdunes, showed signs of convergence with native dunes. Successful convergence may be hindered by lingering physical and microbial legacy effects of beachgrass invasion and treatment method. Adaptive restoration may be needed to counter effects and improve project success.
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EXPERIMENTAL TEST OF THE INFLUENCE OF NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE PLANT SPECIES ON SAND ACCRETION ON A U.S. PACIFIC NORTHWEST DUNE
The U.S. Pacific Northwest (PWN) coastal dunes are mainly colonized by two non-native beachgrass species (i.e., Ammophila arenaria and A. breviligulata) and a native dune grass (Leymus mollis) that capture sand and build dunes of different morphology. Recently, a hybrid beachgrass was discovered with unknown consequences for dune evolution. We set up a common garden experiment including seven treatments and two control plots to understand the effect of native and non-native plant species on sand accretion and dune morphological evolution. After 1.6 years, sand volume increased the most in the non-native species plots with levels at least twice as high for A. arenaria as compared to the other plots. The hybrid species had moderate sand accretion but a survival rate of 1.4 and 2.1 times higher than its parent species and native species, respectively. These results provide new insights for U.S. PNW coastal dune management.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2103713
- PAR ID:
- 10521757
- Publisher / Repository:
- WORLD SCIENTIFIC
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 978-981-12-7989-8
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 627 to 641
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- New Orleans, LA, USA
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811275135_0059
