The document discusses challenges with restoring and managing coastal dune ecosystems in urban areas. It describes attempts to construct dunes on a beach in Barcelona that initially failed due to lack of aeolian sand transport and invasive species establishment. Researchers realized they needed to mimic natural dune formation processes rather than just constructing an end product. Their new approach involved creating blowouts and obstructions to trap blowing sand and build dunes more organically. This method has achieved better results with more stable dunes, but maintenance is still needed to promote bare sand areas and herbivory. The hope is this approach can form a viable method for urban dune management similar to maintaining grass lawns.

1. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Mimicking natural processes
on urban dunes

2. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
1908

3. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Circa 1950

4. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Last mobile dunes 1980

5. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
1992 the first maritime promenade in Spain with dunes as central aspect of
the landscape treatment

6. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Transformations due to urbanization & modification of coastal dynamics
1950
Anthropocene!

7. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Coastal regression due to the new harbour and no visible effects of annual beach
nourishment with 100.000m3 of sand

8. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Marram grass decay after less than 10 years

9. Something worrying when is the most relevant dune constructor. There are
no photograph of dunes without marram grass

10. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Literature describes competition processes and as most relevant factor soil
patogens

11. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Probably mechanical sieving impedes the natural sand aeolian transport, but is only
one of the relevant factors
Anthropocene!

12. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
The accumulation of dog excreta can also be a problem for a plant which
requires oligotrophic soils

13. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Without marram grass and aeolian sand transport, dune relief disappears.
No more bare sand and its biodiversity

14. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Pine tree encroachment is another factor of dune habitat reduction

15. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Altered ecosystem but biodiversity still remaining. Still on time to react!

16. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
An European project + the Metropolitan Administration of Barcelona
Goals:
1. Learn how to construct urban dunes
2. Learn how to manage the huge demand of cultural ecosystem services
of the urban dunes.

17. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Dune construction from beach sand

18. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
And from blow-out excavation

19. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
And mixed outcomes

20. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Sand nourishment has not modified
the emerged beach profile which keeps
vulnerable to flooding events

21. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
And moving emerged dry sand is very cheap and effective!
A good way to protect coast against storm surges and erosion

22. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Marram grass is cheap, as is moving sand, but…

23. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
..wind still keeps its ability to erode dunes and uproot
marram grass

24. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
In just 8 weeks marram grass uprooted and invasive
species stablished

25. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Other techniques also did not work

26. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
So an study on wind was done

27. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Same wind but with different effects with changing coastline orientation

28. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
And just revisiting literature about sand humidity, apparent slope, wind
velocity increase with the height of the dune ….

29. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
So, we started to mimic natural processes instead
trying to reproduce the final step of a process

30. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
If there is not sand transport because beach use and
management, we can tray to make the process easier

31. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
And it works!

32. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Blowouts need to be maintained

33. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
And no clear clue of the soil humidity study

34. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Dutch dunes keep leaching nutrients with rain

35. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
And their marram grass plantations works if there is sand
accretion

36. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
If not, happens the same as in other parts

37. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
On this Scottish tidal wetland there is growing a ridge of
marram grass directly over the permanently wet soils! So if
water content has something to do is when it is enriched with
nutrients

38. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
Promoting rabbit populations is a good idea as herbivory is needed to
keep some bare sand surface

39. Ecological Restoration in the Mediterranean region: Challenges and Opportunities, 14-15-16 October 2015, Beirut, Lebanon
So, is it possible to create a method of urban dune
creation and management, similar to those
employed on managing urban ray-grass lawns?
We hope yes! lascurain@sgm.es
@volemdunes
http://www.operas-project.eu/