Vegetation pattern in lowlands between active sand dunes has rarely been studied, but itmay play an important role in maintaining the biodiversity. This paper aims to quantify relationships between lowland area and species richness, composition and vegetation distribution and to provide suggestions on biodiversity conservation in the active dune field. Considering each interdune lowlandasa self...

Coastal dunes, in particular foredunes, support a resilient ecosystem and reduce coastal vulnerability to storms. In contrast to dry desert dunes, coastal dunes arise from interactions between biological and physical processes. Ecologists have traditionally addressed coastal ecosystems by assuming that they adapt to preexisting dune topography, whereas geomorphologists have studied the properti...

[1] Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) into the ocean is increasingly recognized as an important component of land-ocean interaction. Numerous geological settings may be the source of terrestrially derived SGD, including spatially extensive sand dune systems, which are a common coastal setting in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions throughout the world. Within the catchment of the G...

Endemic plants inhabiting coastal sand dunes show augmented extinction risks due to the dynamic nature of dunes and strong human pressure on coastal areas. To investigate the survival strategies and threats to long-term survival of such species, we combined genetic, morphological and biogeographical approaches, using the example of Hieracium eriophorum (Asteraceae) and its putative cryptic sist...

We examined the genetic diversity of root nodule bacteria associated with the Australian legume Acacia longifolia in two stages of invasion of a coastal sand dune system. All isolates belonged to the genus Bradyrhizobium. A higher diversity was found in the long-established trees. The results suggest the introduction of exotic bradyrhizobia with the plant.

Most remote sensing studies in deserts focus solely on vegetation monitoring to assess the extent of desertification. However, the application of sand dune encroachment into such studies would greatly improve the accuracy in the prediction criteria of risk-prone areas. This study applies the latter methodology for tracking desertification using sand dunes in the Kelso Dunes (in Newberry-Baker, ...