It may be close to Halloween but, the weather is still driving many Ventura locals, like myself, to the beaches to relax and have fun in the sun. This past weekend, I decided to do some walking and exploring along the southern portion of San Buenaventura State Beach. This exploration was done with the environment in mind, as the beach is one of the most important natural habitats within Ventura County. I focused my interests even more so on the magnificent dunes that flowed over the landscape and thought about them as a habitat. Dunes are formed as a result of wind and wave action. Many sand dunes have plants that grow in and around them. Dune plants stabilize sediments and assist in dune formation. However, not all plants are providing a good service to the beach ecology.
I dug my toes in the sand as I walked through the dunes and felt their varying degrees of warmth depending on how high they were. I didn’t come across very many critters except for some flies here and there. My initial inspection of the dunes at Ventura State Beach quickly recognized that they have been vastly overran by invasive dune plants such as the Ice Plant. I didn’t see too much European Beach Grass present at this particular beach, however, I know they are also in the area. In fact, I didn’t see any other flora or fauna in these dunes. Although it it is pretty to look at, Ice Plants are out-competing other natural flora at the beach and in the dunes which is leading some species to become endangered. I’m curious if there is anything we humans can or should do to control this invasive plant? Would it dramatically alter the beach ecology? As I previously mentioned, I didn’t come across any animals living in the sand dunes. I know that further down south, in Oxnard’s McGrath Beach area, there is a shorebird that makes nests and lays eggs in the dunes. I couldn’t help but wonder why that area is protected for them to do so but not the dunes in Ventura. If the animal chooses a location for a reason, I’m interested to know why. Should a shorebird decide to nest on Ventura State Beach, will we be protecting it and, as a result, sectioning off part of our beach?
Wonderful Post! I have never been to San Buenaventura State Beach, although I have heard a lot about it! Many friends live in Ventura and visit beaches regularly and encourage this beach. I found it interesting that you said there was no flora or fauna in the dunes. I personally love the look of the Ice plant and how it sits on the beach. I remember growing up near Carpinteria and always laying on the beach next to these plants as a kid. I also remember an invasion of sea birds near the beach. I will have to check this out! Great post.
Amanda, I enjoyed your blog! You took beautiful pictures; I especially like the purple ice plant one. So, when I learned from your blog that these ice pants are actually a harmful invasive species to the natural dune habitat, I was saddened and surprised! Do you know what natural plants they harm in this location? I wonder what the solution to this would be. To tear out the invasive ice plants? I like how you questioned how controlling these invasive species might impact the ecology, because there are always consequences to actions. So, I too wonder what those consequences would be. I also wonder how the lack of dune animals, like the birds you mentioned, has effected the ecosystem. Maybe in this area, there is an overabundance of prey that these dune animals would normally eat/control the population size. Too much of a certain type of creature in an area could cause their prey to be too few, effecting the entire rest of the food chain. Before, I just saw pretty plants, so thank you for allowing me to consider all these things.
I enjoyed reading it and I must say I’ve seen more ice plants in my life than I ever want to knowing how much they are invasive. unfortunately its something that is necessary, now the dunes require the ice plants unless we want to let the dunes go for several years as we attempt to put the local flora back in. I thought it was pretty though before I knew the problems they caused with their weird triangular ‘leaves’
I remember learning the ice plant was an invasive species a few years ago. Part of me was in disbelief, I had grown up with this plant and it was an iconic part of Carpenteria beach for me. I wonder if there will be a future effort to eradicate this species from the west coast or if the ecosystem will have to adapt to this new invader.