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Environnements et Paléoenvironnements
Océaniques et Continentaux
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Séminaire


Beach grass invasions, climate change, and effects on coastal dune ecosystem functions and services

Date
le 04-09-2014 à 10:45

Lieu
Salle Stendhal, DGO, Bâtiment B18

Intervenant(s)
Sally D. HACKER, Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, USA

Résumé
More than a third of the world's population lives on the coast, even though it comprises only 4% of the land area. Long-term sustainability of these coastal areas depends on the services provided by coastal ecosystems. Sea level rise and an increase in storm intensity provide new motivation to understand the effects of climate change on coastal ecosystems, often the first line of defense against natural hazards. Coastal dunes and beaches of the US Pacific Northwest provide an example of how human actions, through the introduction of two invasive beach grasses, may alter the functions and services of dune ecosystems. Nearly half of the coastlines are dune-backed sandy beaches that were planted with non-native grass from Europe (Ammophila arenaria) and the eastern US (Ammophila breviligulata) in the early 1900s for sand stabilization. These introductions have significantly altered ecosystem function by creating foredunes, continuous hills of sand parallel to the shoreline. Foredune structure varies along the coast depending on the grass species, its coverage, and sand deposition. The distribution of foredune structure has important implications for two critical services provided by dunes: (1) protection against sea level rise and extreme wave events (storms and tsunamis), and (2) habitat for rare native species. Thus there is a dynamic relationship between climate processes, dune ecosystems, and conservation management. Here I present results that investigate the potential effects of climate change on the interplay between beach grass invasions, coastal processes, and dune geomorphology and the consequences for coastal protection and endangered species conservation.
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