Experimental Dune Restoration and Stabilization, Nauset Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

摘要

In April 1970, experimental plots were established on a baymouth bar at Nauset Harbor on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. On the bar both sand fences and American beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata) were tested as alternative techniques for creating and stabilizing dunes. Elevational profiles were made periodically in the test plots from April 1970 to November 1977. The study concluded that sand fences initially capture sand more rapidly than newly planted beachgrass. Once established, however, beachgrass plantings trap sand at a rate equivalent to multiple lifts of sand fence. Using either sand fence or beachgrass, a dune growth rate of more than 11 cubic meters per linear meter of beach per year was sustained. Crest elevation increased 0.25 meter per year. (Author)