THE ECOLOGY OF EUROPEAN BEACHGRASS (AMMOPHILA ARENARIA (L.) LINK) A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Alfred M. Wiedemann, PhD The Evergreen State College Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Nongame Wildlife Program Technical Report #87-1-01 June 1987 CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ................................................................ I INTRODUCTION ........................................................... 1 DESCRIPTION ............................................................ 4 TAXONOMY ............................................................... 4 ECOLOGY ................................................................ 6 Habitat 6 ........................................................... Growth ............................................................ 7 Disease, Predation, and Disturbance 11 ............................... Control ........................................................... 13 CONCLUSION ............................................................. 14 REFERENCES ............................................................. 15 THE ECOLOGY OF EUROPEAN BEACHGRASS (AMMOPHILA ARENARIA (L.) LINK) A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Alfred M. Wiedemann, PhD ABSTRACT A review of the historical importance, taxonomy, and ecology of European beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria (L.) Link) is made including recent research in_`adaptive nrnwth and physiology. Disease, predation, and tolerance of disturbance is noted. The threat of the species, as an introduced exotic, to native landscapes and organisms is discussed. Two programs of organized eradication efforts are reviewed. It is concluded that control or eradication of the species is difficult, and the most effective methods to date involve the use of chemical herbicides. INTRODUCTION European beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria (L.) Link) is native to Europe, ranging between Lat. 63*N and Lat. 30'N along the sandy coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the Baltic, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea. Highly adapted to the drifting sand conditions of coastal dunes, it has been valued for centuries as a dune stabilizer. As populations increased in Europe, land, including coastal dune areas, became more valuable. Moving sand dunes were not compatible with agricultural lands, roads, and towns. The first recorded use of plants to stabilize sand dunes was in 1307 on the North Sea. In 1567, sand dune reclamation was directed by the government of Holland, and by the 1700's, major dune reclamation and conservation work was in progress along the coasts of France, Germany, Holland, and Denmark (Gerhardt 1900, Olsson-Seffer 1909). European beachgrass became so important to the protection of coastal areas that, in the time of William III (1689-1702), an act of Parliament was passed to preserve the grass along the Scottish coast. Penalties were provided for its destruction. The possession of stalks within 8 miles (13 km) of the coast was a penal offense! This was a drastic measure since the dune grasses were the basis of an. extensive industry producing ropes, mats, roof thatch, and coarse paper from the roots, stems, and leaves, respectively (Lamson-Scribner 1894). -I- In their exploration, discovery, and settlement of lands in the "New World," Europeans carried this attitude with them. Coastal areas were for and attractive settlement, with settlement came problems of bl-owing sand and eroding On Cape beaches. Cod, Massachusetts, there was once a law requiring the townspeople to "turn-out" to plant beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata, a closely related, native American species) in April. Penalties were provided for neolecting this duty. Tn Provincetown, a "beachgrass committee" was directed to plant the grass on private property showing bare sand (Lamson-Scribner 1894, Ross 1897). By 1869, blowing sand was a problem for San rapidly growing Francisco, and by 1898, a total of 200 ha had been planted to European beachgrass (Lamb 1898). Interestingly enough, the seeds for this planting were imported from Australia, where the species had been by earlier introduced the English colonists. It was also New introduced to Zealand and the Falkland Islands about the same time. European beachgrass spread rapidly up and down the west coast of the United Much States. of this spread can be attributed to planting projects by various government agencies to protect waterways, roads and railroads, water supplies, forests, recreation areas, and private property. In 1935, about 1,214 ha Columbia near the River were planted to stabilizing grasses, mostly European (Schwendiman beachgrass 1977). Through the 1950's, extensive areas were planted in the Florence area (Green 1965). As a result of this activity, and the natural ability of the species to spread rapidly, Ammophila is today found along the entire coast of western North America, from the Queen Charlotte Islands to southern California (Breckon and Barbour 1974). The result of the establishment and spread of this species has been a drastic alteration in the character of the dune systems along the coast. European beachgrass grows most vigorously where there is wind-blown sand, primarily the area just above the high tide line. Here it has produced a high, wide, continuous ridge of sand, the foredune. This change has been in remarkable the rate at which it occurred and in the visible results. Lamb (1898) reports that, at the end of the 19th century, there was no "littoral dune," from just sand the beach to the tree line. Cooper (1958) notes the lack a of prominent foredune prior to 1940. Wiedemann (1966, po. 160, 163, -2- 17 9) provides striking photographic comparisons, showing the rapid establishment of European beachgrass. While the value of the species in terms of the human economy can hardly be questioned, the cost in terms of the natural environment has been great. The present Ammophila-dominated foredune has replaced the original low, rounded, open mounds formed by the native "sand-loving" species (Wiedemann 1984, pp. 74-75). While these native species are not threatened with extinction, the beauty of form and color they gave to the dune landscape is no longer seen. Animals may be affected as well. Slobodchikoff and Doyen (1977), working on the coastal dunes of central California, report that European beachgrass reduced the number and diversity of sand-dwelling .arthropods, mainly through alteration of the optimum habitat. Most recently, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has raised the possibility that Ammophila has altered the nesting habitat for the snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), and is considering the control or eradication of European beachgrass at least over limited areas (personal communications, Charlie Bruce, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Corvallis, Oregon). The notion of control or eradication of such a highly-esteemed species is a novel one, yet there is increasing concern about the effects of its introduction on native species and landscapes. Heyligers (1984) discusses this for southeastern Australia. Johnson (1982) notes that the New Zealand National Parks Act of 1980 specifies that introduced plant species, including Ammophila arenaria, be exterminated in the national parks. In California, The Nature Conservancy has decided to attempt eradication of Ammnphila in the Lanphere-Christensen Dunes Preserve (personal communication, S. VanHook, Lanphere-Christensen Dunes Preserve, Arcata, California, 1983). The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on European beachgrass with a view toward learning what might be done to aid in the control or eradication of the species in certain situations. To this end a literature search, using the BIOSIS Previews database (contains citations from Biological Abstracts, Biological Abstracts/RRM, and BioResearch Index) was conducted. The key words used were "Ammophila arenaria," "European beachgrass," and "marram grass." The search covered the period 1969 to 1985. -3- Of the many references produced, those dealing with the species in a synecological context, those in which mention of the species was incidental to the main work being reported, and those published in journals difficult to obtain and/or read (chiefly Eastern European) are not considered in this A paper. significant work is that of Huiskes (1979a) in which is summarized (as part of the "Biological Flora of the British Isles" series) what is known about the species as it occurs in Europe. The most recent literature in that work is dated 1977. Description, taxonomy, and ecology as recorded in that and other works prior to 1977 will be summarized or added to in this paper as seems appropriate. DESCRIPTION Detailed descriptions of the species are found in Huiskes (1979a), Hitchcock (1950), Hitchcock et al. (1969), and Munz and Keck (1959). It is an erect perennial with flowering stems up to I m tall. The stems are tufted from tough, scaly rhizomes that spread horizontally and vertically. The leaf blades are tough, fibrous, and inrolled to a sharp point (except when just emerging or under moist conditions). They are 2-4 mm wide when flattened, without auricles, and 15-10 mm broad. The outer surface is smooth and grayish-green without distinct ribs; the inner surface is whitish and closely ribbed. The spikelets are 1-flowered, 10-15 mm long, the lemma of the single flower 1-3 mm shorter. The species is distinguished from the very similar American beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata), introduced on west coast dunes, by the thicker, shorter (1-3 mm) ligule of the latter; and from American dunegrass (Elymus mollis),