Manawatu sand dune vegetation
[First paragraphs...]
Coastal sand dunes provide a habitat for plants which can withstand:-
(i) a moving substrate which covers and uncovers their roots, has little capacity to store water and affords no encouragement for seedling establishment;
(ii) strong desiccating winds carrying large amounts of salt and driving abrasive sand;
(iii) widely- and rapidly-changing temperatures, because the sparse cover of vegetation does little to moderate the effects of the high specific heat and high reflectivity of sand.