Beachgrass, planted to control erosion, can dramatically change the environment of coastal sand dunes - and not always in good ways.
Related outreach
Accomplishments
National Sea Grant ecosystems & habitat page
Research:
Ecosystems & Habitats
Current projects
Impact and Removal of Two Beach Grass Invaders in Pacific Northwest Coastal Dune Systems (R/ECO-19)
Sally Hacker
Department of Zoology
Oregon State University
3029 Cordley Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone: 541-737-3707
Fax: 541-737-0501
E-mail:
hackers@science.oregonstate.edu
Eric Seabloom
Department of Zoology
Oregon State University
5084 Cordley Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone: 541-737-3702
Fax: 541-737-0501
E-mail:
seabloom@science.oregonstate.edu
Dunes in the Pacific Northwest were once open, shifting-sand ecosystems. Since the early 1900s, however, they have been stabilized by means of systematic planting of European beach grass, Ammophila arenaria. By the 1950s, A. arenaria dominated dunes from Mexico to Canada and had altered the shape of Pacific dunes. This invasion has had several ecological consequences, including threatening already endangered flora and fauna.
This research will help hone ongoing management efforts and allow scientists to forecast the impacts of other invasive species on existing management programs. It will also help them better predict the consequences of removing Ammophila.
Former Sea Grant researchers: What they're doing now
- Dan Bottom (Salmon River Estuary Project)
- Outcomes: Managing for Resilience symposium, January 2006
- Pathways to Resilience: Sustaining Pacific Salmon in a Changing World (2007 conference and followup)
- Salmon and Estuaries: Vital linkages learned at Salmon River (2007) [.pdf] [HTML]
- Katherine Field (Genetic markers for fecal coliform pollution): Genetically pinpointing pollution sources Oregon's Agricultural Progress, Fall 2006).