Coastal Strand

Coastal Strand

Coastal Strand is a term used to describe a plant community of flowering plants that form along the shore in loose sand just above the high tide line, the on West Coast of the United States.

Many plants that grow in this area are endemic to the strand. The community has low species diversity because so few plants can tolerate the harsh conditions of high winds, battering salt spray, and extreme high temperatures in the summer. Plants must also be adapted to sandy saline soils, with extremely low nutrient loads, and low water holding capacity.

Plants that grow along the coast are very tolerant of the winds and salt and sand loaded ocean spray. Many species are succulent, storing salty water in their leaves. The leaves are often light colored or grey-green to reflect sunlight and reduce desiccation. Hairy leaves may reduce evapotranspiration, may help gather moisture from the air, and may reflect a small portion of incoming solar radiation thereby reducing the plants internal temperature. They are often very low in height with prostrate stems and spread by rooting at the nodes and may have deep tap roots, both rooting systems helping to anchor the shifting sands as the plants colonize the beach above high tide.

Pacific Coastal strand plants

  • Portulacaceae (Purslane Family)
    • Calandrinia maritima, seaside calandrinia

Note that common names in parentheses are common names for the genus, not the specific species.

References



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Strand, Western Cape — Strand (Afrikaans for beach ) is a seaside resort town situated on the eastern edge of False Bay and at the foot of the Hottentots Holland Mountains. Its geographical position is just between Macassar and Gordon s Bay, and is about 50 km… …   Wikipedia

  • Coastal geography — is the study of the dynamic interface between the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography (i.e coastal geomorphology, geology and oceanography) and the human geography (sociology and history) of the coast. It involves an… …   Wikipedia

  • Coastal Grand Mall — Location Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA Coordinates 33°42′10″N 78°55′26″W …   Wikipedia

  • coastal landforms — ▪ geology Introduction       any of the relief features present along any coast, the result of a combination of processes, sediments, and the geology of the coast itself.       The coastal environment of the world is made up of a wide variety of… …   Universalium

  • Coastal landforms of Ireland — Ireland is an island surrounded by water,[1] with a 7,500 kilometre coastline.[2] This list catalogues about 400 of the coastal landforms of the island including bays, estuaries, harbours, headlands, and many others.[3][4][5] Most offshore… …   Wikipedia

  • Coastal management — This article is about coastal management aimed to prevent erosion and flooding. For broader management issues, see Integrated coastal zone management. Oosterscheldekering sea wall, the Netherlands. In some jurisdictions the terms sea defense and… …   Wikipedia

  • Coastal erosion — Many stretches of the East Anglia, England coastline are prone to heavy levels of erosion, such as this, the collapsed section of cliffs at Hunstanton, Norfolk. Coastal erosion is the wearing away of land and the removal of beach or dune… …   Wikipedia

  • Strand plain — A strand plain is a series of dunes, usually associated with and parallel to a beach, sometimes containing small creeks or lakes that have very low of negligible fresh water input.Examples of strand plains: *Western Louisiana *Eastern Texas *West …   Wikipedia

  • Morro Strand State Beach — Location San Luis Obispo County, California …   Wikipedia

  • BB&T Coastal Field — This article is about the baseball stadium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. For the football stadium in Winston Salem, North Carolina, see BB T Field. For the baseball stadium also in Winston Salem, see BB T Ballpark. BB T Coastal Field Location …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”