Initial establishment of vegetation in a man-made coastal area in Denmark

A man-made coastal area (8 km long, 300 m wide), constructed from seed-free, marine sand was investigated from 1978 to 1983 as regards relief, soil properties, and establishment of vegetation.
The following developments were apparent:

• 1. 

  The outer shore zone changed from a Cakile -dominated vegetation to a sparse and less diverse vegetation.
• 2. 

  The inner shore zone maintained spontaneous Ammophila as dominant and developed into a mobile dune with changing species.
• 3. 

  The outer dune slope with planted Ammophila developed into a mobile dune dominated by vigorous Ammophila.
• 4. 

  The dune zone with planted Ammophila: The outer part developed towards a somewhat fixed dune with increasing diversity. The inner part developed into a diverse and more fixed dune community with mainly Festuca rubra.
• 5. 

  The inner dune slope developed into a vegetation comprising few species.
• 1. 

  The grassland zone, initially sown with Festuca rubra and Lolium perenne , changed into a grass-herb-vegetation dominated by Festuca rubra , with a slowly increasing number of immigrating species, changing from annuals to perennials, in particular species of Fabaceae and Hippophaë.