AQA A-Level Geography 7037
Water and Carbon Cycles
Hot Desert Systems and LandscapesLandscape
Coastal Systems and LandscapesLandscape
Glacial Systems and LandscapesLandscape
HazardsHazards or ecosystems
Ecosystems Under StressHazards or ecosystems
Global Systems and Global Governance
Changing Places
Contemporary Urban EnvironmentsHuman option
Population and the EnvironmentHuman option
Resource SecurityHuman option
Ecosystems Under Stress
The Sefton Coast sand dunes case study
- 3 things to know
- Component 1
Overview
The Sefton Coast dunes as the local ecosystem case study: succession and soils, natterjacks and red squirrels, pine planting, erosion at Formby Point, invasive scrub, designations and management evaluated.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
How is coastal erosion affecting the Sefton dunes?
Which invasive species threaten the Sefton dunes?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Describe the Sefton Coast sand dune ecosystem.
Model answer
Between Southport and Crosby on Merseyside lies one of the largest dune systems in England, about 2,100 hectares, with a full succession from embryo and yellow dunes to fixed grey dunes, damp dune slacks, dune heath and planted pine woodland.
- 2
How does succession change soils and vegetation across the Sefton dunes?
Model answer
Marram grass traps sand on the yellow dunes; as the dunes are fixed, organic matter builds up and soils become less alkaline and richer in nutrients, allowing grasses, mosses and eventually scrub and trees to grow.
- 3
Which important species does the Sefton Coast support?
Model answer
Natterjack toads breeding in the dune slacks, sand lizards, rare plants such as the dune helleborine, and red squirrels in the pine woods at Formby.
- 4
How have humans changed the Sefton dunes?
Model answer
Pine plantations were planted to stabilise the sand, parts were used for asparagus growing, golf courses and housing cover large areas, and heavy visitor numbers cause trampling and erosion of the dunes.
- 5
How is coastal erosion affecting the Sefton dunes?
Model answer
Formby Point has been eroding by up to about four metres a year in places, removing frontal dunes and exposing older layers.
- 6
How did disease affect the red squirrels of Formby?
Model answer
An outbreak of squirrelpox, carried by grey squirrels, killed around 80% of Formby's red squirrels in 2008, though the population later recovered.
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