by the 1978 storm. In this analysis, comparisons were made between areas 

 sampled before and after overwash burial. In a second analysis, all data 

 collected on Nauset Spit-Eastham in 1977 and 1978 were again subdivided into 

 plant community types, but were analyzed as a unit using a two-dimensional 

 ordination technique. In this way, salt-marsh and dune communities were 

 spatially separated and postoverwash communities were associated with either 

 the salt marsh or dune end-points of a gradient of community types. 



Data collected during 1977 and 1978 on Nauset Spit-Eastham were subdivided 

 to analyze the community response to major overwash sand burial on a north- 

 east barrier beach. For analysis, the communities were divided into three 

 groupings: dune, washover, and salt-marsh (Fig. 35). Whenever possible, 

 quadrats sampled in 1977 were compared with the exact same quadrats resampled 

 in 1978. 





L 



Dune Coramunirv i 

 prestorm, 1977 | 



~ 









"~T "'"*■ 







1 Entirely eroded! 





Partly eroded i 

 and partly 1 





Entirely j 





1 ^ 1 



Comparison I 





Comparison 2 



Comparison 3 





j Overwash Community 

 ' prestorro, 1977 























Entirely erodedl 

 away | 









Corapai 



ison 4 





I Shallow burial l< 34 cm) I Deep burial (> 34 cm) 1 (Continual overwash j 



Comparison 10 



5 yeorj 



ofter overwosn 



Sane year 





5 years 



ofter overnosh 



Figure 35. 



i 5 Comparison 6 Comparison 7 Comparison 8 6 9 



Community analysis: the effects of overwash processes 

 on dune, washover, and salt-marsh communities. 



Three types of overwash were analyzed for sand-dune communities (see 

 Fig. 35): dunes completely eroded by overwash surges (comparison 1), dunes 

 entirely affected by overwash activity — partly eroded and partly buried 

 (comparison 2), and dunes that were not eroded but were buried by washover 

 sand (comparison 3). In all three comparisons, quadrats sampled in 1977 were 

 compared with the same quadrats resampled in 1978. 



74 



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