Ynylas sand dunes case study Flashcards
What are the 6 stages?
Embryo dunes, mobile dunes, semi-fixed dunes, fixed dunes, dune slacks and climax.
What is the embryo dune stage?
There are small patches of marram grass which are seeded from rhizomes up to 3m long.
What sorts of plants are found at the embryo dune stage?
- pioneer species
- prickly saltwort
- marram grass
What is the mobile dune stage?
Otherwise known as yellow dunes. They are some large areas of bare, moving sand but greater cover of marram grass.
What sorts of plants are found at the mobile dune stage?
- sea couch grass
- lyme grass
What is the semi-fixed dune stag?
Otherwise known as grey dune. They are smaller patches with greyish tinges. There are many other plants including marram grass.
What sorts of plants are found at the semi-fixed dune stage?
- marram grass
- sea purge
What is the fixed dune stage?
This is almost complete vegetation cover. Also, the marram grass is only found in isolated places. There are lots of other species present here.
What sorts of plants are found at the fixed dune stage?
- sand fescue
- sea holly
What is the dune slack stage?
There are areas which develop where the sand has become eroded so that the water is reached. The sands form a damp depression at low level and the area is prone to flooding. There are large numbers of animals here and blow-outs cause a lot of damage.
What sorts of plants are found at the dune slack stage?
- ragwort
- sea bindweed
What is the climax stag?
The sand dunes develop into scrub and then into woodland.
What sorts of plants are found at the climax stage?
- birds foot tretoil
- marsh bellebourne
What are 3 features of marram grass?
- tall in length in order to stop moisture loss
- has spiralled leaves to prevent them from losing too much moisture
- it has long roots (up to 3m) to can anchor itself underground preventing it from moving and allowing it to grow.
What is a feature of sea holly?
- it has prickles on its leaves to protect it from other animals and plants.
