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The Newest Green Beach at Ainsdale, Sefton Coast – 2022 update

Philip H. Smith, November 2022

Summary

Floristic data were collected each year from 2011 to 2022 on embryo dunes and an associated wetland that began to form on Ainsdale beach in 2008 as a southern extension of Birkdale Green Beach. Named the ‘Newest Green Beach’ and eventually covering 2.4 ha, this feature developed rapidly by accretion of blown sand, initially around Puccinellia maritima (Common Saltmarsh-grass), to form a dune ridge over 4 m in height, protecting a seasonally-flooded primary dune-slack. By 2022, 245 vascular taxa (species subspecies and hybrids) had been recorded for the feature. Annual totals initially showed an almost linear increase in the number of plants over time. The rate of increase in species-richness for the ridge was much lower than for the slack, except in 2021, when a contribution from an exceptionally rich strandline flora added 41 taxa to the year total. After 2019, slack totals declined, following a ‘hump-back’ model that describes a trend of species richness during succession. About 18% of the flora was regionally or nationally notable, reflecting the known conservation value of early successional dune habitats. Only about 14% of the recorded plants were non-native, this low figure being thought due to the harsh maritime conditions and distance from gardens. A trend of falling mean Ellenberg indicator salinity (S) values showed that a slack community adapted to brackish conditions changed, within a few years, to one largely composed of species with little tolerance to salinity. In contrast, there was a much less steep decline in S-values for the ridge, which was dominated by halophytic dune-building grasses. Other interests included breeding Natterjack Toads in some years, together with nationally rare bryophytes and invertebrates.