Studies on wind and plant interactions on French Atlantic coastal dunes Available to Purchase

The possibilities of sand mobilization by wind on coastal areas are mainly controlled by the wind gradient and the sand grain size. However, on beach-grass covered dunes, the effect of vegetation, which is to raise the roughness factor, i.e. , the height at which the wind velocity is canceled, must be taken into account. The multivariate methods used allow a qualitative approach of the roughness factor, which emphasizes the rank order of the relevant parameters: first, the vegetation densities, then the vegetation heights, and finally the wind velocity. The ranges of values of the gradient of the wind velocity profile and of the roughness factor are evaluated for different species associations.