For one of our field trips, we drove up to Saugatuck Dunes State Park for a lesson on dune ecology and dune succession. Dune succession is the changing of an ecosystem over time in terms of plants and wildlife. Here is a general outline of the process:
- Sand shifts due to wind and water.
- A few plants are able to take root. These plants require little water and nutrients.
- Birds bring tree seeds and seedlings begin to grow.
- Plants create root systems, bring in moisture, and decompose, which creates humus and better soil for more plants.
- Animals also begin to inhabit the area because of increased resources of food and shelter.
- Bugs, spiders, and other insects move in to the vegetation and sand.
- Pine trees and grass start to take over the dune area.
- Behind the transition zone is a dense pine forest with a large variety of plants and animals.
- Oak trees also move into the area.
- Leaves and bugs contribute to the decomposition of organic matter and lead to an increase in humus.
- Beech and maple trees move in and wildlife diversifies even more.
While at the beach, we went on a scavenger hunt to find many different types of plants and dune features. These included: marram grass (beach grass), backdunes (high inland dunes), and cottonwood trees.
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| This is a picture of the transition zone between the upper beach and forest. |
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| This photo shows a backdune. |
We used quadrats to measure the percent cover of vegetation in foredunes (upper beach), wetpannes (interdunal areas), blowouts, and forest edge. We found that there was more vegetation and a greater number of woody plants on the forest edge. There was also a greater percent vegetation with a greater diversity of species on the forest edge than on the foredune or wetpanne (the inland blowout contained no vegetation).
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| A group uses the quadrat to measure vegetation cover. |
Here are some more pictures from the day:
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