Friday, November 14, 2014

Dynamics of dune development: The effect of plants on sand deposition


Most researchers have left the Zandmotor and are busy analysing their data by now. Some people might wonder that there is still some evidence of our activities present at the Zandmotor. Especially near the ARGUS tower there are still some vegetation plots in place. Wageningen university aims study the processes that underlie dune formation and changes in dune morphology. The focus is on the relationship between sand transport, sand deposition and plant density of two different plant species: Ammophila arenaria and Elytrigia juncea of high and low density. 12 Plots of vegetation with different species composition and density were created, in which sand trapping efficiency and sand transport measurements are performed. Sand deposition within the plots is calculated using erosion pins as well as behind the plots using photogrammetry. In addition, 6 sand traps are placed in front the plots and 12 sand traps are placed behind the plots in order to trap the sand that is transported. The amount sand that is trapped is collected and afterwards is calculated. (Master thesis research from Angela Anastasiou, student of Wageningen University )
Vegetation plots in the wind