fence where sand accumulation had buried the transplants about 45 

 centimeters deep (Fig. 10). Dahl, at al . (1975) noted that survival 

 of transplants buried by 15 centimeters or more of sand was less than 

 the upright transplants. Growth and vigor of the surviving plants at 

 Drum Inlet continued to be good through the remainder of the growing 

 season (Fig. 11) . 



The number of leaves, culms, and the cover in the October sample, 

 was equal to or greater for American beachgrass and sea oats than for 

 bitter panicum in all plots with treatments of two and three species 

 (Tables 7, 8, and 9) . All three selections of American beachgrass 

 (NJ-327, Cape, and Hatteras beachgrass) produced greater values for 

 number of leaves, culms, and the cover than the Hatteras selection of 

 bitter panicum in single species treatments. The relatively large 

 values for sea oats were partly due to a row of this species running 

 through all plots. There were also scattered clumps of native 

 saltmeadow cordgrass and sea oats in the experimental area. 



b. 1974. Growth of bitter panicum and sea oats was healthier 

 and more vigorous during the 1974 growing season. The increased amount 

 of sand trapped and cover established from 1973 to 1974 was readily 

 apparent (Figs. 12 and 13). 



In the October sample, frequency values of 50 percent and above 

 were obtained for the originally planted species (Table 10), except for 

 sea oats in the three-way mixture (Hatteras beachgrass plus bitter 

 panicum plus sea oats) (Fig. 14) . Bitter panicum had spread into all 

 six American beachgrass experimental plots, but was more prevalent on 

 the oceanside of the dune. American beachgrass was not found in the 

 bitter panicum experimental plots 4 and 8, and plot 6 of the bitter 

 panicum plus sea oats treatment. Annuals, Cakile edentula (Bigelow) 

 Hooker (sea rocket) and seaside spurge, invaded some of the 

 experimental plots (Table 10). Except for plots 10, 12, and 14, 

 cover values were higher on the oceanside than on the sound side of 

 the dune (Table 11) . This condition was largely due to burial of 

 first-year transplants on the sound side of the dune sections by 

 about 45 centimeters of sand. In general, cover values were somewhat 

 higher in the plots with bitter panicum than in the three American 

 beachgrass treatments. 



Although a few plants invaded the experimental planting, the three 

 originally planted species (American beachgrass, bitter panicum, and 

 sea oats) still constituted 99.5 percent of the aboveground biomass 

 after two growing seasons (Table 12). Bitter panicum provided more cover 

 per unit biomass than American beachgrass. This condition is well 

 illustrated by comparing oceanside of the dune bitter panicum plots 

 4 and 8 (Fig. 13) with oceanside of the dune American beachgrass plots 

 3 and 13 (Fig. 15). All of these plots had frequencies of 100 percent, 

 but the bitter panicum plots had higher cover values (Table 11) and 

 the American beachgrass plots had higher biomass values (Table 12). 



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