What is it about?
This study compares the amount of two different common plant species present at California beaches ("beach bur" Ambrosia chamissonis and "rocket" Cakile maritima) at beaches with three different levels of human impacts (low, medium, and high). Beaches with a higher impact level had more cover of "beach bur". Beaches with a medium impact had more "rocket".
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Photo by Hristina Šatalova on Unsplash
Why is it important?
How much we let people walk on a beach can change what species can live there. Just walking on a foredune can change the habitat. On California beaches, it appears that larger numbers of people makes conditions more hospitable to "beach bur", which is a native woody plant with bur-type seeds. The seeds may prevent bare-footed visitors from walking on it. "Rocket" on the other hand, is a naturalized non-native species with fleshy, succulent leaves.
Perspectives
Giving people paths through foredune areas could reduce impacts at any site.
Dr Michele M Tobias
University of California Davis
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Effect of Trampling on Ambrosia chamissonis and Cakile maritima Cover on California Beaches, Madroño, January 2013, California Botanical Society,
DOI: 10.3120/0024-9637-60.1.4.
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