MAC URISA 2016

Vegetation and biogeomorphology are highly coupled in beach-dune systems, but the role of plants and within that, species effects, on abating storm erosion are largely unexplored. We quantified coastal dune erosion from Superstorm Sandy (October 2012) as a function of pre-storm system characteristics - dune height, beach width, and dominant vegetation-stabilizing dunes (native Ammophila breviligulata or invasive Carex kobomugi)- at Island Beach State Park, New Jersey, USA. Dune erosion was assessed using a combination of pre- and post-Sandy aerial image analyses, GPS mapping, and GIS spatial analyses. We analyzed erosion as a function of two new metrics: macroscale 2D surface area changes, and Dune Crest Transgression (DCT), measured at the microscale (1 m-1) and analyzed using a mixed model accounting for spatial autocorrelation. This is the first study to show a species-effect on erosion - although C. kobomugi reduces native diversity and abundance, it may be beneficial for coastal protection, as dunes fronted by C. kobomugi suffered less erosion than those dominated by A. breviligulata.