Diario del proyecto Hybrid Beachgrass Mapping in the Pacific Northwest

As we approach summer (and ideal beachgrass ID season!), I wanted to share several updates related to this hybrid beachgrass mapping project:

First, I'll be wrapping up my Master's research related to the hybrid this month, but the project will live on! I'm excited to share that Danielle Whalen, a PhD student at OSU in the same research group, will continue to co-coordinate the project with Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition. Being part of this community science project has been such a highlight of my graduate research, and I'm so grateful all the folks who have contributed observations, shared their dune knowledge, and shaped this work!

Now, here's a quick overview of upcoming events related to the hybrid beachgrass project:

1. Master's Thesis Defense: Wednesday, May 24 at 10 am PT. Summary of my research of the last three years related to the hybrid beachgrass. The Zoom link is https://beav.es/Askerooth with passcode 205194 - a registered Zoom account is needed to access the webinar.
2. CoastWatch webinar: Wednesday, June 14 at 6 pm PT. Insights and updates related to hybrid project - similar to my defense, but in a more accessible format with emphasis on the community science project and its upcoming events.
3. Beachgrass Identification Training in Oregon: Saturday, June 24 at Gearhart (exact location and time TBD). Danielle will be leading the training and chatting about beachgrass ID and the importance of dune grasses ahead of July (one of the best months to easily ID the hybrid!).

Feel free to send any questions my way, and sending big thank you's to everyone!
-Risa

Hi everyone -

Check out this species distribution map of American and European marram grass, from all verified iNaturalist observations and data collected by Rebecca Mostow, the former admin of this page!

Thank you all so much for all the posted observations - this map will help us identify potential areas where the parents of the hybrid beachgrass co-occur, but we haven't yet found the hybrid. For instance, the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, has many, many observations of both parent species, so future (or currently undetected) hybridization events are possible.

This map is still in-progress, so please let me know if you have any comments or thoughts on this.

Thank you again for all your posting!
-Risa

Hi iNaturalist folks!

Thanks so much to everyone who has posted any beachgrass observations this summer. And there have been a LOT - nearly 200 posts since June 1! And we’ve covered a lot of ground, from southern California into British Columbia!

I wanted to highlight a few updates about the search for the hybrid as we transition into fall & the dunes get colder and rainier:

First, we’ve now found nearly 300 hybrid patches on the PNW coast, from Pacific City, Oregon to Ocean Grove, Washington (shown on a map here). This is more than a tenfold increase in the amount we knew of just a few years ago, and thanks to everyone for playing a role in this search!

Second, Rebecca Mostow, who spearheaded this community science project on iNaturalist beginning in 2020 in partnership with CoastWatch, is now Dr. Mostow after successfully defending her PhD in late August! Check out her recorded defense with lots of cool hybrid finds here. Rebecca has answered essential questions about the hybrid beachgrass related to this community science mapping project, and deserves a huge round of virtual applause!

Rebecca will be handing off the community science project over the next year to me, Risa, a fellow graduate student and beachgrass enthusiast in the Hacker research group at Oregon State University. I’m excited to e-meet you all and see your beachgrass ID’s in the future!

Happy fall,
Risa

Hello intrepid hybrid hunters!

The hybrid plants currently living at my experimental site in Newport have started to flower! That means the next few weeks are the PERFECT time to get out on the beach and try to identify new patches of the hybrid.

Step 1: Go to a stretch of sandy beach between Pacific City, OR and Moclips, WA.
Step 2: Look at which grasses are already flowering on the dune. The ones with the flowers already up, open and popped out of their leafy sheaths are A. arenaria! They probably look like this.
Step 3: Walk along the beach or dune looking for any patches of grass where the flowers are earlier in their season than the A. arenaria ones you just stared at. Maybe you find some that are just starting to pop up with no fluttery stamens poking out. Maybe they look more like this.
Step 4: Check those ligules! Check the ligules of any plants with "earlier looking" (aka less mature than A. arenaria) flowers. These are likely to be hybrids! Forgot what a ligule is? No problem, check out the ID guide again!
Step 5: Post whichever beachgrasses you see to iNaturalist and enjoy the beautiful beach!!!

Happy hunting!

Rebecca

Our iNaturalist project was featured on OPB! Check out the article which describes our discovery of a hybrid beachgrass and encourages people to help out by joining the iNaturalist search.

https://www.opb.org/article/2021/06/01/hybrid-beachgrass-could-mean-trouble-for-northwest-coast/

Jes Burns, the journalist who reported our story, shared this wonderful analogy for hybrid vigor on twitter:
"I learned a new concept reporting this story: hybrid vigor.
It's like if Space Ghost & Aquaman had a baby that was able to breathe in lava, not just H2O & in space.

In OR, a newly confirmed hybrid beachgrass is taller than both its invasive parents."

Our discovery of the hybrid beachgrass was recently published in Ecosphere and is the featured cover story for the May issue. Check out the article here!

This article presents morphological, genetic, and cytological evidence that the newly discovered beachgrass on the PNW coast is a first generation hybrid cross between Ammophila arenaria and Ammophila breviligulata.

Check out my most recent presentation given for Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTmxVtAA_eg
This talk was part of the Explore Nature webinar series. In it I describe the discovery of the hybrid beachgrass and ongoing research on its ability to reproduce and spread. And, of course, I encourage folks to get involved with this iNaturalist project!

Hi All-

I have teamed up with Oregon Shores CoastWatch to plan two in-person trainings about beachgrass identification, iNaturalist use, and dune ecology! If you want to learn how to tell the difference between Ammophila arenaria and Ammophila breviligulata, how to identify their interspecific hybrid, and where/when to look for the hybrid then please come on out. We'll also learn some tips for using iNaturalist, native dune plant identification and how the introduced beachgrasses dramatically changed the Pacific Northwest Coast.

Training 1: May 11th from 10am - noon. Bob Straub State Park. The field trip begins at the Bob Straub State Park parking lot. Cross the Nestucca River from central Pacific City on the Pacific Ave. bridge, then turn left on Sunset Dr. to reach the parking lot. Contact jesse@oregonshores.org to register.

Training 2: May 29th from 10am - noon. Fort Stevens State Park. The field trip begins at the parking lot near the Peter Iredale Shipwreck. Contact jesse@oregonshores.org to register.

Do you live, recreate or admire the Oregon coast dunes? If so, please take this survey!

https://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e4oftWstRk1SOax

Researchers at OSU are putting together a dune booklet that will be chock full of information useful for homeowners, land managers, and anyone interested in how our coastal dunes are formed and managed. Please fill out the survey to help the researchers make a resource that will be useful for YOU!

Here's an example of the type of booklet they're hoping to create: http://njseagrant.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Dune-Manual-Pgs-compressed.pdf

Hey Ammophila-philes!

Last week I gave a talk for the Cape Perpetua Collaborative. I had a great time virtually interacting with the Cape Perpetua community; thanks to Tara for inviting me! I used this opportunity to describe the discovery of the hybrid beachgrass and the goals of this iNaturalist project. It's pretty similar to other talks I've posted here except that at the end I gave an update on successes of the "hybrid hunt!" Check it out on YouTube (or read below for spoilers).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuWdkquOGbY

CAUTION: TALK SPOILERS!

Over the summer we identified 6 new patches of the hybrid at 4 sites! One of these sites was discovered by a community member! 2 hybrid patches were found in Bob Straub State Park (just south of Pacific City) and the rest were found on the Long Beach Peninsula. Huge thanks to everyone who has been scouring the beaches for this fascinating plant. There is certainly more out there to find so keep your eyes on those ligules!

With gratitude,

Rebecca