Evolution in the shifting sands: understanding how beach grasses have adapted to life on the coast.

Grasses play a fundamental role in stabilising sand dunes, the most at risk habitat in Europe. They do this by colonising the beach where they are exposed to the extremes of the coastal environment. As they grow they stabilise the sand into the dune habitat which is home to a unique array of biodiversity and acts as an important natural flood defence.

Despite the difficulty of surviving in such a demanding environment, the beach has been independently colonised by a number of grass species. The aim of this project is to discover how these species have convergently evolved to life on the coast. The outcomes of this project have the potential to improve the conservation of this habitat in the face of rapid climate change, and reduce coastal erosion.