California beach dunes once teemed with plants and birds | Los Angeles Times

[posted by Chuck Almdale]

The LA Times tells a good story about our dunes. Watch closely and some of the lovely artwork will move. I hope the LAT website lets you in. It deserves sharing.

California beach dunes once teemed with plants and birds
Los Angeles Times | Rosanna Xia, Paul Duginski & Sean Greene | 2 Aug 2020

California beach dunes once teemed with plants and birds

But their habitats were flattened to make room for us.

Can this forgotten ecosystem thrive again? Scientists are trying to find out.

Along a postcard stretch of Southern California, beneath the geologic grandeur of Point Dume, Sara Cuadra cradled a rake and prodded what seemed like just a patch of white sand.

To the untrained eye, this was just another pretty spot in Malibu — a popular site for film shoots and Instagrams, body surfing and long walks by the sea. But here among the bluffs of Westward Beach, where the shoreline has quietly eroded with each passing year, Cuadra has spent weeks tending, square foot by square foot, a forgotten ecosystem that has long since been destroyed.

“That should do it,” she said, patting the sand with satisfaction. “I think we can start seeding.”

And much much more….