Name:
Leymus mollis - Leymus arenarius - Abronia latifolia Dune Grassland & Beach Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This group consists of herbaceous and shrubby vegetation on coastal sandy and cobble-on-sand beaches, beach dunes, and sand spits that occur along the Pacific coast from central California to Alaska, including coastlines on the Gulf of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and further north, encompassing the arctic coastlines along the Bering Sea of western Alaska. Processes that define the group include sand and salt deposition, wind and water erosion, and overwash from storm surges. Soils are usually sandy and well-drained, though dune slacks may be poorly drained. Beaches and dunes are dominated by a mosaic of barren sands, herbaceous and scrub vegetation. This group includes dunes that may occur as much as 2 km inland which may or may not experience salt spray or storm surges. Patch size is small to moderate and often linear. Vegetation within this group includes grasslands, salt-tolerant forb communities and dwarf-shrublands. Salt-tolerant forb communities occur just above mean high tide and are dominated or codominated by <i>Abronia latifolia, Achillea millefolium var. borealis, Cochlearia groenlandica, Equisetum variegatum, Honckenya peploides, Lathyrus japonicus var. maritimus</i>, or <i>Mertensia maritima</i>. Grasslands communities occur on cobble beaches and on dunes that become higher and further away from beach and are dominated by <i>Leymus mollis, Leymus arenarius</i>, or <i>Festuca rubra</i> and may include other graminoids such as <i>Poa eminens, Hordeum brachyantherum</i>, and <i>Deschampsia beringensis</i>, and forbs such as <i>Abronia latifolia, Achillea millefolium var. borealis, Angelica genuflexa, Angelica lucida, Claytonia sibirica, Fragaria chiloensis, Heracleum maximum, Honckenya peploides, Lathyrus japonicus var. maritimus, Ligusticum scoticum, Lupinus nootkatensis, Potentilla villosa</i>, and <i>Senecio pseudoarnica</i>. Dwarf-shrub communities occur on older dunes, usually behind grassland-dominated dunes and are dominated by <i>Empetrum nigrum, Gaultheria shallon, Vaccinium ovatum, Myrica gale</i>, or <i>Salix</i> spp. Herbaceous species intermixed with dwarf-shrubs include <i>Lathyrus japonicus var. maritimus, Conioselinum chinense, Cornus suecica</i>, and <i>Cnidium cnidiifolium</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40133-{EDF32FAC-9DDA-4F3D-BC9D-0CA8FF284D89}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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