Plants play dominant role in landscape formation of coastal areas

Introduction: Dutch and Flemish researchers studied the colonisation by coastal vegetation - Coastal vegetation interacts with water flow and the transport of sand and sediment: this interaction plays a key role in the rise of characteristic landscape forms in coastal habitats. Scientists from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and University of Antwerp ( Global Change Ecology Centre , Research Group Ecosystem Management ) provide more insight in this interaction in their new paper that appeared recently. UAntwerp researchers Jim Van Belzen , Olivier Gourgue and Stijn Temmerman contributed to the study. The new study shows that not only physical characteristics (root density, shoot thickness, plant size, ..) are important. The colonisation 'behaviour' of the plants - the way the plants establish and proliferate - is playing an even more essential role. The researchers studied the colonisation by multiple pioneer coastal plant species, and concluded that the speed at which the species can establish is the key to landscape formation. Research leader Christian Schwarz (lead researcher at Utrecht University): "Climate change can lead to changes in plant growth characteristics: our research shows this can impact whole coastal landscapes.