| Title | Declining sand dune activity in the southern Canadian prairies: historical context, controls and ecosystem implications |
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| Author | Hugenholtz, C H; Bender, D; Wolfe, S A |
| Source | Aeolian Research vol. 2, 2-3, 2010 p. 71-82, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2010.05.002 |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2010 |
| Alt Series | Earth Sciences Sector, Contribution Series 20090325 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Alberta; Manitoba; Saskatchewan |
| NTS | 62; 72; 82H; 82I; 82P |
| Lat/Long WENS | -114.0000 -96.0000 52.0000 49.0000 |
| Subjects | sedimentology; surficial geology/geomorphology; Nature and Environment; dunes; eolian deposits; glacial deposits; Holocene; climatic fluctuations; vegetation; sands; sediment transport; erosion;
paleoenvironment; ecosystems; biotic diversification; Plants; Cenozoic; Quaternary |
| Illustrations | location maps; photographs; graphs |
| Program | Climate Change Geoscience |
| Released | 2010 11 01 |
| Abstract | Sandhills are islands of biodiversity in the southern Canadian prairies that sustain habitat for many rare and endangered species. These unique areas consist of large expanses of dune fields now mostly
stabilized by grassland vegetation. Historically, the number of active dunes has decreased significantly due to vegetation stabilization, resulting in a dramatic decline of open-sand habitat for a variety of dunedependent species. Without a certain
level of wind erosion, opportunities for establishment of earlystage, species-rich vegetation types are diminished and open-sand habitat decreases by encroachment of the surrounding grassland vegetation. The current trend of dune stabilization,
however, implies that wind erosion is decreasing, thereby threatening the continued existence of a variety of dune-dependent plants, arthropods and vertebrates, as well as other less-specialized species that benefit indirectly from these habitats. By
reviewing factors contributing to the historical decline of active dunes, as well as the ecological implications of dune stabilization, the aim of this paper is to establish the biophysical context for new land management strategies that conserve
valued landscape components, such as active dunes, and the processes therein. As dune stabilization continues management interventions will be required to sustain or re-establish open sand and the species that rely on these habitats. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 261394 |
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