(2007, September 26). Miles and miles of windblown sand. A number of small inter-dune lakes, such as Lily Lake to the north and Saunders, Beal, and Horsfall Lakes to the south, are largely fed by seasonal precipitation.Tree islands, another prominent topographic feature of the Oregon Dunes, are erosional remnants of a formerly more extensive forested dune surface. As more sand accumulates in growing stands of beach grass, the land behind the dune tends to get “terrestrialized,” or turned into wetlands and forest habitats.“The willows and other trees and larger shrubs you often see behind the dunes are an indication that wetlands are being formed in the mini-valley behind the dunes,” Hacker said.As that process advances, beach habitat disappears, taking with it the plovers’ critical nesting grounds. ScienceDaily. The third, which is limited to one area, is a subspecies of American beach grass. It is Champlain beach grass, or Ammophila breviligulata ssp.

The southward march of the American beach grass species could reverse the terrestrialization trend, as the American variety creates a much smaller foredune.Hacker and Seabloom have received funding from Oregon Sea Grant to study the impacts and interactions of these invasive grasses on the Oregon coast.

The first, and most common, according to the University of Texas, is American beach grass (Ammophila breviligulata). Oregon State University. Mercer, Woahink, Siltcoos, Tahkenitch, Clear, and Tenmile Lakes are good examples.
The higher dunes to the eastNearest the beach, the first prominent dune form is the foredune, a 25-foot-high ridge covered in grasses that runs more or less continuously along the Dunes shoreline. It is not intended to provide medical or other professional advice.Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily, its staff, its contributors, or its partners.Financial support for ScienceDaily comes from advertisements and referral programs, where indicated.

Invasion Of New Beach Grass Could Weaken Shoreline Protection. "Invasion Of New Beach Grass Could Weaken Shoreline Protection." Farther inland, the oblique dunes stand 200 feet or more above sea level, their ridgelines formed by the interaction of prevailing summer winds from the north-northwest and winter winds from the south-southwest. As a non-native, introduced species, it is classified as invasive. Questions?Oregon State University. American Beach Grass is common in coastal dune areas of the Atlantic seaboard, Great Lakes and throughout California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

But even beyond that, from Pacific City south, most of the beach grass is the American beach grass, with just a few pockets of European beach grass.“Lower dune heights, increasing wave heights that have been observed over the last 50 years, and global climate change could create a scenario in which the dunes no longer serve a coastal protection function,” Hacker said.Beyond the protection concerns, there are other ecological issues in play as well.While the foredune system created by European beach grass is good for coastal landowners, it is not so good for endangered beach plant species and the federally-threatened Western snowy plover, scientists say. The …Created by Congress in 1972, the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area (ODNRA) provides federal management for the largest expanse of sand dunes on the West Coast. Only Siltcoos, Tahkenitch, and Tenmile Lakes are drained by creeks that flow into the Pacific Ocean. The Oregon Dunes stretch for fifty-four miles, from Heceta Head north of Florence to Cape Arago just south of In 1972, Congress set aside 32,186 acres of the total dune complex as the Recent studies have determined that the youngest dunes, which were formed over the last seven thousand years, are nearest the ocean. European Beach Grass on the Oregon coast - YouTube. The Coos Bay estuary is a semi-enclosed, elongated series of sloughs and tidewater streams that drains approximately 825 square miles of southern Oregon's rugged Coast Range.

Have any problems using the site? The river, whose entire length is in Douglas County, is formed by the confluence of the North Umpqua … Invasion of the European beach grass, the disturbance by off-road vehicles, and encroaching beachfront developments have all contributed to the steep decline in the numbers of Pink Sand Verbena plant clusters. South of Florence and north of Coos Bay are well-developed parabola dunes, long fingers of sand reaching into the surrounding forest.The Oregon Dunes is a land of many lakes. The status of this beach grass variety went unnoticed for more than 50 years, until Seabloom and a colleague discovered it had crept as far south as Tillamook Head and as far north as the Olympic Peninsula.Surveys of the entire Oregon coast have determined that the current range of domination of American beach grass extends from Long Beach, Wash., to Pacific City, Ore. European Beach Grass ( Ammophila) were introduced in the late 19th century and planted through 1960 … Or view hourly updated newsfeeds in your RSS reader:Keep up to date with the latest news from ScienceDaily via social networks:Tell us what you think of ScienceDaily -- we welcome both positive and negative comments. Located between Coos Bay-The Umpqua River, approximately 111 miles long, is a principal river of the Oregon coast, draining an expansive network of valleys in the mountains on the western slopes of the Cascade Range. An invasion of American beach grass is under way along the Oregon coast, threatening to change dune ecology and reduce the ability of dunes to protect roads, property and towns from coastal storms.Scientists at Oregon State University have documented a slow but steady takeover by this beach grass, an invasive species. In 1952, Ternyik supervised early efforts to stabilized sand dunes on the Oregon Coast. Conservation Status: Although still common in many areas, this species has been widely supplanted by European Beach Grass ( Ammophila arenaria ) which grows faster and can better tolerate a variety of environmental factors. There are two primary species of beach grasses in the Unites States, and one uncommon species that is actually a subspecies.