To save the Pinhey Sand Dunes we need to first restore them. This involves lots of dedication and time put into 5 main activities; Repopulation Planting, Weed Wrangling, Caterpillar Counting, Sand Sifting, and Seed Starting.
Repopulation Planting
A crucial part of restoring the Pinhey San Dunes is planting native and beneficial plant species. These plants provide food and shelter for animals, stabilize the dune’s surface, protect it from wind, and increase its biodiversity.
While we do require clean sand for some of our animal species to thrive, others require the hosts and food sources we plant. If we only catered to one specific animal or insect we could compromise the ecosystem by decreasing its biodiversity making it unsustainable. These plants increase the number and kinds of species that can live on the dunes allowing the how ecosystem to better overcome difficulties like extreme weather, disease, or disturbance. For example, Monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed and with the 5 varieties the dunes have, if a species does not thrive one year there are still 4 more species that the Monarchs can use. Similar with our predatory species like tiger beetles, plants like spreading dogbane attracts different prey species for them allowing them both a variety and volume of food.
Weed Wrangling
Removing weed plants can be time-consuming but might be one of the most satisfying activities we do. There are 3 specific classifications of plants we remove; introduced species, harmful species, and dune invasive species.
Introduced species or non-native species are species that are originally from somewhere other than Ontario, Canada, and have somehow been brought here. buckthorn, garlic mustard, and purple loosestrife
We luckily do not have to deal with harmful species often but we are always watching for them to ensure they are dealt with as quickly as possible. This category of species includes poison ivy, thistles, and wild parsnip.
Not all plants we remove are what most people may consider to be invasive in their backyards, but are invasive specifically to the dunes. These dune invasive species can out-compete the beneficial species we plant and quickly cover the entirety of the dunes contaminating the clean sand with debris making it difficult if not impossible for species like the Ghost Tiger Beetle to survive. A very common invasive we remove is Crabgrass, which requires frequent removing throughout the season to keep it under control.
Caterpillar Counting
While restoring the dune sites it is important to get a measure of our progress and one way of doing that is ‘Caterpillar Counting’. Identifying and counting caterpillars and other insects at the different dunes lets us know how suitable the habitat is.
We use click-counters for counting some of our abundant caterpillar populations like American Ladies as there are usually hundreds! We also have implemented the application iNaturalist to harness the power of citizen science. By taking a picture of any species, plant, animal, or otherwise, and uploading it into the app with where it was found an observation is logged. These iNaturalist observations are identified by experts from around the world and can be used as a record of what is present at the Pinhey Sand Dunes. This allows everyone to participate in the restoration project even if they cannot come out to a day of volunteering. The more people that are looking the more we find!
Sand Sifting
Past human activities at the Pinhey Sand Dunes have resulted in the sand being ‘contaminated’. These contaminants are not obvious but include tree debris like roots, branches, and leaves. For species like the Ghost Tiger beetle to thrive they need a sand column or pure clean sand.
To get clean sand sift dry top sand through large A-frame sieves. Once the top layer of sand is sifted we dig into the dunes and remove large items like logs. Then, if this underlayer of sand is wet we spread it out to dry in the sun before sifting it as well. When the sand is passed through the sieves it forms small dunes which we position to form our larger dune which can involve artificial wind.
Seed Starting
Native and beneficial plant species can be difficult to find and expensive. To mitigate this we often try and grow our plants from seed. Volunteers sow seeds off-site during the colder off-season to provide the seedlings needed for planting. This is how we started our New Jersey Tea population and a great way to be involved during the colder months.