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Plant communities of the British sand dunes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

A. J. C. Malloch
A. J. C. Malloch
Affiliation:
Institute of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Lancaster, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, U.K.
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Synopsis

The National Vegetation Classification has details of some 2000 samples of sand dune vegetation collected nationally. Analysis of these data has resulted in the recognition of about thirteen plant communities of the sand dune system. Details of these communities are presented, elaborating on their species composition, variability, ecological relationships and distribution. As might be expected, the major direction of variation is from strandline, through the vegetation of active dunes, to the fixed dune grasslands, heath and scrub. The precise pattern is affected by the calcium status of the dune and by its geographic location. The vegetation of dune slacks is also dependent on the calcium status of the sand, as well as the amount and persistence of standing water. Superimposed on this natural pattern of variation is the use of dune systems by the grazing of domestic animals as seen on the machair of the Hebrides in particular.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 96: Coastal Sand Dunes , 1989 , pp. 53 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1989

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