Shifting Sands: Past, Present, and Future of Coastal Dunes

Sandy beaches and coastal dunes are ecologically and culturally valuable environments that support unique biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services, including recreation, scenic beauty, and storm protection. This review summarizes dune formation processes, global distribution, and plant adaptations to sandy environments (psammophilous vegetation). Coastal dunes are increasingly threatened by direct impacts such as urbanization, mining, and dune stabilization, as well as by indirect pressures from climate change, including sea-level rise, erosion, and vegetation growth driven by warming and changes in precipitation. These combined effects lead to habitat loss, degradation, and the expansion of invasive species. Long-term changes in wave and wind regimes further alter dune dynamics. Assessing dune ecosystems with modern tools, including artificial intelligence, is essential for understanding their current condition and for guiding sustainable management strategies to conserve them.

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Publication Details

Journal
Annual Review of Environment and Resources
Published
2026-07-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-112624-014822
Primary Topic
Aeolian processes and effects
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Shifting Sands: Past, Present, and Future of Coastal Dunes

Débora Lithgow, Carmelo Maximiliano-Cordova, Valeria Chávez, Karla Salgado et al.
Annual Review of Environment and Resources
Aeolian processes and effects
article

Shifting Sands: Past, Present, and Future of Coastal Dunes

Débora Lithgow, Carmelo Maximiliano-Cordova, Valeria Chávez, Karla Salgado, Patricia Moreno‐Casasola, Gabriela Mendoza‐González, Juan Gallego-Fernández, M. Imelda Martínez, Octavio Pérez-Maqueo, Alicia T. R. Acosta, Rodolfo Silva, Rusty Feagin, Pedro A. Garzo,  Joana Gaspar de Freitas, Patrick A. Hesp
article en

Abstract

Sandy beaches and coastal dunes are ecologically and culturally valuable environments that support unique biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services, including recreation, scenic beauty, and storm protection. This review summarizes dune formation processes, global distribution, and plant adaptations to sandy environments (psammophilous vegetation). Coastal dunes are increasingly threatened by direct impacts such as urbanization, mining, and dune stabilization, as well as by indirect pressures from climate change, including sea-level rise, erosion, and vegetation growth driven by warming and changes in precipitation. These combined effects lead to habitat loss, degradation, and the expansion of invasive species. Long-term changes in wave and wind regimes further alter dune dynamics. Assessing dune ecosystems with modern tools, including artificial intelligence, is essential for understanding their current condition and for guiding sustainable management strategies to conserve them.

Annual Review of Environment and Resources
Roma Tre University (IT), National University of Mar del Plata (AR), Lisbon School of Design (PT), Autonomous University of Yucatán (MX), Instituto de Ecología (MX), Southern Cross University (AU), Universidad de Sevilla (ES), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), Texas A&M University (US), Tecnológico de Monterrey (MX)
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Aeolian processes and effects
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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