The Biology of Coastal Sand Dunes

280 Pages·2009·6.95 MB·English

by  Anwar Maun

The Biology of Coastal Sand Dunes
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The Biology of
Coastal Sand Dunes

M. Anwar Maun
1
3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP
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First published 2009
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Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India
Printed in Great Britain
on acid-free paper by
CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire
ISBN 978–0–19–857035–6 (Hbk) ISBN 978–0–19–857036–3 (Pbk)
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is dedicated with love to my grandchildren—Kaleem,
Nida, Hashir, Ali, Zenab, Bilal, and Maidah.
v
Preface
Coastal sand dunes around the world are experimental approaches with suggestions for
unique systems. There are large variations student-based field studies and projects.
between continents, but along coastlines many This is a basic text for students in ecology
of the selective forces are similar. Because of and biology of coastal sand dunes. It is
that certain evolutionary processes converge intended only to introduce the vast subject of
along different coastlines. This book is a com- sand dunes along coasts, which we depend on
pilation of work done by me and my graduate for energy and resources.
students over more than 30 years. The pains- This text is also suitable for both senior
taking work done by graduate students in spite undergraduate and graduate students enrolled
of the odds, such as burning sun, biting deer in courses in coastal zone management,
flies, albedo from the sand surface and cold marine biology, plant ecology, restoration ecol-
numbing sand at harvest time, all added up ogy and conservation biology, as well as for
to create tremendous hardships; however, we professional ecologists and conservation biol-
persevered. I can assure you that working in ogists requiring a concise but authoritative
sand dune systems is not ‘a day at the beach’! overview of the topic. The book also will be
Coastal zones are becoming increasingly relevant and useful to coastal managers, plan-
topical (and politically sensitive) as they face ners and naturalists.
relentless pressures from urban expansion,
recreational development and sea level rise
due to climatic change. This timely book
Publisher’s Note
provides a comprehensive introduction to the
formation, dynamics, maintenance and per- Anwar Maun sadly passed away in Septem -
petuation of coastal sand dune systems. ber 2007, shortly before completing the manu-
It describes interactions between living script for this book. Dianne Fahselt wrote the
organisms and the physical processes of geo- final chapter on rising sea levels, and Irene
morphology, and due to the increasingly Krajnyk took on the considerable job of check-
endangered status of dunes particularly ing the scientific nomenclature and collating
emphasizes conservation and management. A and proofreading the manuscript. The pub-
global range of examples enhance the book’s lisher would like to thank both of them for
international appeal. Included is coverage their hard work in making this a fitting tribute
of the latest methods/techniques and to Anwar’s life and work.
vi
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to many who helped over the Canada for their support of my research pro-
years and provided valuable discussions and gramme over the past 30 years.
criticism. First I thank my 27 graduate stu-
dents, both MSc and PhD, who are now work- Anwar Maun
ing in North American, Europe and Australia.
I would like to mention several in particular Richard Gardiner kindly verified the scien-
who completed substantially more work than tific nomenclature of fungi, Anthony Davy
was required for their degrees: Irene Krajnyk, reviewed Chapter 13 and Brooke Stephens
Anita Payne, Irene Westelaken, Josée Lapierre, generously donated her time to help verify
Felicite Stairs, Tao Yuan, John Zhang and the references in Chapter 15. Michelle Turner,
Peter Baye. I’m also thankful to Mary Leck Terrence Bell, Jessica Hurley, Amanda Adams,
and Dianne Fahselt for critically evaluating Marc Possmayer and Hollydawn Murray co-
the text before submission (Mary Chapters 3 operated to free Irene Krajnyk for editing and
and 4, Dianne all chapters), Tom Poulson for proof-reading, while Helen Eaton, Ian Sherman
correcting my thoughts on the theory of suc- and Carol Bestley at OUP greatly facilitated
cession, Brooke Stephens for preparing the production. Anwar’s three daughters, Fakhra,
figures using ORIGIN and Ian Craig for con- Farzana and Zohra, encouraged him through-
verting them to EPS and TIFF. I would also out the time he was writing this book.
like to express my gratitude to the Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Irene Krajnyk and Dianne Fahselt
vii
Anwar Maun, sand dune ecologist
(1935–2007)
Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biology at the
University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Anwar was born in Pakistan on January vincial park officials confirmed that Anwar’s
1, 1935. He attended Punjab University in research had a strong bearing on management
Lahore, where he received a Merit Scholarship policies for Ontario’s sand dune ecosystems.
as well as both a BSc and MSc (agricultural In 1993, Anwar was awarded a Certificate of
botany) in 1953 and 1958, respectively. In
1961 Anwar won an open scholarship to the
American University of Beirut in Lebanon.
He earned his second MSc (in crop ecology)
in 1963. Winning the Graduate Exchange
Scholarship to Washington State University
brought Anwar to Pullman, Washington in
1964. Upon completion of his PhD (also in crop
ecology) in 1968 Anwar came to the University
of Western Ontario as a postdoctoral fellow. In
1971 he was appointed to Assistant Professor
rising to the rank of Professor in 1986. Anwar’s
first introduction to sand dunes was in 1972
during a field trip to Pinery Provincial Park
and in 1973 he started his sand dune research
programme, which would last for more than
30 years. The aim of Anwar’s research was to
understand how plants survive and interact
in a sand dune environment. He approached
the problem from several different fields and
points of view, including population dynam-
ics, ecophysiology, and soil–plant interactions.
This enabled Anwar to contribute not only to
the knowledge of particular processes and
species responses but also to a more com-
prehensive view of the dynamics of the sand
dune ecosystem and thus to its conservation
and management. A letter from the president
of World Wildlife Fund and from several pro-
viii
ANWAR MAUN, SAND DUNE ECOLOGIST (1935–2007) ix
Recognition by the Ontario Government for tories and tutorials. The course started in 1972
20 years of dedicated assistance in the devel- with an unprecedented enrolment of more than
opment of resource management programmes 800 students. At UWO Anwar taught more than
in the Pinery and Ipperwash Provincial Parks. 12 different courses and received an Award of
His work on the vegetation of coastal sand Teaching Excellence in Plant Ecology by the
dunes along the Great Lakes earned Anwar a UWO University Students Council 1995–1996.
world-wide reputation leading to the award of Probably Anwar’s most important contribution
the prestigious George Lawson Medal by the to teaching at UWO was the founding and devel-
Canadian Botanical Association in 1997. That opment of an innovative and successful interdis-
same year a student of Anwar’s was awarded ciplinary Environmental Science Graduate
the J.S. Rowe Award for the best student paper Program (MSc and PhD), bringing together fac-
published in 1996 in the Journal of Ecology. In ulty from six departments in five faculties—
2003 Anwar was awarded Recognition of 25 science, social science, engineering, law, and
years of Excellence in Research by the presi- medicine—of which he was the Director for
dent of the Natural Sciences and Engineering seven years until his retirement in 2000.
Research Council of Canada. Among his many other contributions,
During his research career at UWO Anwar Anwar served as acting chair of the Department
supervised the work of 27 graduate students of Plant Sciences, spent many years as chair of
(MSc and PhD) and two postdoctoral fellows. both the undergraduate and graduate
He was the author of more than 100 scientific education committees, served on many other
papers and articles, with the majority focused major c ommittees both in the department and
on sand dune ecology, a field in which he Faculty of Science and was an enthusiastic
became recognized as a world expert. Anwar supporter of the Honours Ecology and
travelled widely to present his work, consult, Evolution Program at UWO.
and examine theses for 31 MSc and PhD stu- Anwar’s interests ranged from photography,
dents from Canada, USA, India, Mexico, and woodworking and gardening to the collection
the Netherlands. He spent one sabbatical at the of Inuit lithographs, prints of Bikkers, and
University of California, Davis (1981) and Pakistani carpets. He also wrote more than
another at the Institute for Ecological Research ten popular articles about sand dunes. Anwar
in Oostvoorne, Holland (1988). For many years enjoyed going to the theatre in Stratford
Anwar was an Associate Editor of the Canadian (Ontario), observing nature, cooking, and
Journal of Botany, in addition to being on the travelling—especially to places where there
editorial board of the Journal of Coastal Research. were sand dunes.
He reviewed papers submitted for publication Anwar’s love and passion for the dunes was
to more than ten other international journals. unwavering. During the last few years, in spite
Anwar was a member of many academic and of failing health, Anwar visited the dunes sev-
professional societies: the British Ecological eral times each year and this gave him tremen-
Society, Botanical Society of America, Canadian dous pleasure and happiness. He left many
Botanical Association, Environmental Reviews, projects unfinished and many pleasures still
Ecoscience, Federation of Ontario Naturalists, anticipated. He is missed greatly by his family,
McIlwraith Field Naturalists Club, Canadian friends, and colleagues in North America,
Water Resources Association Scholarship Pakistan, and in numerous other parts of the
Committee, and Lake Huron Centre for Coastal world where his insight, abilities, and spectacu-
Conservation. He served for many years on the lar smile earned him enthusiastic followings.
Board of Directors for Friends of the Pinery.
Paul Cavers, Dianne Fahselt, Professors
When Anwar was appointed to the faculty he
Emeriti and
was asked to develop, coordinate, and run a new
Irene Krajnyk, Lecturer, Department of
second-year level course in ecology with labora-
Biology