Nearctic Sandy Beach and Dune - Code: Ne12D

The most abundant of the Nearctic coastal habitats, this encompasses everything from the cold windswept dunes on the Olympic Peninsula to the scenic sandy beaches of Florida and the Yucatán. This habitat is generally poorly vegetated except in the case of stabilized, interior dunes. Sandy beaches and dunes are found throughout the continent but are most common along the southern Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. While most habitats without significant vegetation have a notable lack of animals, coastal environments are different as they benefit from a constant input of biologically rich jetsam from the surrounding marine environments.
Sandy beaches usually form in areas where wave action has weathered adjacent landmasses and where currents/ocean topography allow for the material to be deposited on a gentle slope. Areas with steep topography, strong currents, or bedrock that is difficult to weather tend to produce NEARCTIC ROCKY COASTLINES. These long sandy stretches will accumulate all manner of detritus brought in by the waves including seaweeds, dead fish, zooplankton and other marine debris. The deep sands usually harbor all manner of filter feeders including clams, mole crabs, marine isopods and a wide variety of worms. While these habitats are less productive than tidal mudflat, sandy beaches and Nearctic Sandflats can still attract a wide variety of migrant shorebirds, gulls, and terns.
In areas where the beach is wide enough and prevailing winds blow inland, windborne sand can accumulate into dunes. The primary dune or foredune receives all of its sand directly from the beach. Primary dunes are usually less vegetated than secondary dunes that form from sands blown off of primary dunes. Secondary dunes are often grassy or shrubby and relatively stable, interior dunes occasionally develop small, stunted forests, often dominated by Shore Pine (Pinus contorta var contorta) on the Pacific coast and Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida) on the Atlantic coast. Pacific Sandy Beach and Dunes are typically stabilized by American Dune Grass (Leymis mollis), Red Fescue (Festuca rubra), Beach Pea (Lathyrus japonicus var. maritimus), Oysterplant (Mertensia maritima), and Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). More stable dunes in the Pacific have a variety of shrubs including Dune Bush Lupine (Lupinus chamissonis), California Goldenbush (Ericameria ericoides), Salal (Gaultheria shallon) and Yellow Bush Lupine (Lupinus arboreus). Dunes in the Atlantic Sandy Beach and Dunes region are stabilized by American Beach Grass (Ammophila breviligulata), Bitter Panicgrass ( Panicum amarum), Shore Bluestem (Schizachyrium littorale), Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), and Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi). Northern Bayberry (Morella pennsylvanica) and Beach Heather (Hudsonia tomentosa) are both important in northern dune systems while Wax Myrtle (Morella cerifera) and Seaoats (Uniola paniculata) are common further south.
        Large bodies of water away from the coast can also form Interior River and Lake Beach and Dune systems. These sandy areas tend to have a smaller subset of the wildlife associated with other beach and dune systems and are largely found around the Great Lakes and the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Interior beach and dune systems are often stabilized by grasses from surrounding prairie systems, though most beach and dune systems are also havens for large numbers of rare and endemic plants.