Dune gardening? A critical view of the contemporary coastal dune management paradigm

Modern coastal dune management is viewed largely through the prism of ecology. Achieving maximum biodiversity and preserving priority species are primary objectives based on interventions (grazing, mowing, burning, reseeding, artificial destabilisation) to achieve that purpose. Under non-managed conditions, vegetation tends evolve temporally following well-established succession patterns lead a low diversity scrub or woodland. high involves resisting so as preserve more biodiverse, earlier stages. The net effect create dunes with network types conform human wish lists. Rather than natural environments, such reduce status parklands. NW European under conditions relatively stable sea level generally limited sand supply over past few thousand years, certainly since Little Ice Age (1650–1800), be at well-vegetated advanced stage succession. effectively amounts form “dune gardening” maintain not (i.e., attuned ambient environment) contemporary those two centuries. Current practice value-judgement views enemy. This view resulting actions resist change variance pervasive environmental goal maintaining systems by intervention. Such an approach reduces resilience global climate change. We advocate combined geomorphological ecological capable in response changing drivers.