Why Coastal Dune Slacks Sustain a High Biodiversity

Abstract

In the following, we will discuss the complex interactions between dune slack vegetation, hydrological conditions, and management in dune slacks in order to conserve or restore these ecosystems for future generations. The examples discussed will be mostly from the NW European dune areas, where dune areas have been affected very negatively by human activities, such as mass recreation, abstraction of drinking water for large cities, increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition from industrial and agricultural areas, and large-scale afforestation (Van Dijk and Grootjans 1993). This destruction of what is seen by many as the last remnants of natural ecosystems led to much societal opposition during the last decades and many restoration projects were initiated to restore dune ecosystems with a high biodiversity (Kooijman, Chap. 15).