Climate and coastal dune vegetation: disturbance, recovery, and succession |
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Authors: | Thomas E Miller Elise S Gornish and Hannah L Buckley |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32304-4295, USA;(2) Lincoln University, Canterbury, 7647, New Zealand |
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Abstract: | The sand dune habitats found on barrier islands and other coastal areas support a dynamic plant community while protecting
areas further inland from waves and wind. Foredune, interdune, and backdune habitats common to most coastal dunes have very
different vegetation, likely because of the interplay among plant succession, exposure, disturbance, and resource availability.
However, surprisingly few long-term data are available describing dune vegetation patterns. A nine-year census of 294 plots
on St. George Island, Florida suggests that the major climatic drivers of vegetation patterns vary with habitat. Community
structure is correlated with the elevation, soil moisture, and percent soil ash of each 1 m2 plot. Major storms reduce species richness in all three habitats. Principle coordinate analysis suggests that changes in
the plant communities through time are caused by climatic events: changes in foredune vegetation are correlated with temperature
and summer precipitation, interdune vegetation with storm surge, and backdune vegetation with precipitation and storm surge.
We suggest that the plant communities in foredune, interdune, and backdune habitats tend to undergo succession toward particular
compositions of species, with climatic disturbances pushing the communities away from these more deterministic trajectories. |
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