Wind deflation of washovers and poor dune development resulted in a low 

 elevation profile on the barrier during the first winter after the February 

 storm. Many of the 1978 drift lines had been destroyed as a result of wind 

 and water erosion, and overwash occurred with even marginal winter storms. 

 During one storm in January 1979, all but the highest dunes on Nauset Spit- 

 Eastham were awash, and drift material, laden with seeds and plant fragments, 

 was stranded high in the dunes. In March, permanent drift lines were again 

 laid down on the bay side margins of washover features. Some of these drift 

 lines were deposited either on top of or adjacent to old bay-side drift lines, 

 enlarging and projecting these features. Other drift lines were deposited on 

 barren areas and were similar to 1978 drift lines. High winds during the 

 spring redistributed sediment from the washovers, quickly burying the nearby 

 drift material. 



The spring of 1979 was again very wet and cool on Cape Cod, with 274 milli- 

 meters of precipitation in April, May, and June, and mean monthly temperatures 

 of 7°, 13°, and 17" Celsius (Fig. 81). New plants in 1979 appeared, not only 

 in organized drift lines, but also in barren areas well removed from spring 

 tides. The first appearance of seedlings (Cakile edentula) was on 5 April and 

 again roughly correlated with tha last spring frost on 8 April. Seeds did 

 not successfully germinate between 5 June and 21 August. Seeds of 20 species 

 of flowering plants germinated on Nauset Spit-Eastham in 1979 (Table 29). 

 Although few dunes were destroyed by storms in 1979, abundant plant fragments 

 were present in Nauset Spit-Eastham drift lines. Eight species of flowering 

 plants regenerated from fragments (Table 29) . 



During 1978 and 1979, population data were collected at site 1 fan to 

 determine the relative abundance and mortality of colonizing plant species. 

 Site 1 fan was subdivided into 120 5- by 5-meter plots. Seedlings and 

 regenerating axes were counted early in the spring and biweekly during the 

 field season. Data for 1978 and 1979 appear in Tables 30 and 31. 



The most hardy and widespread propagules in both 1978 and 1979 ware 

 Ammophila breviligulata fragments which regenerated between late April and 

 early June. In April 1978, 9 tillers of Ammophila breviligulata were evident 

 within the site; 363 were recorded in June. Increase in axes numbers after 5 

 June 1978 was due to new bud break along already regenerating axes and not to 

 newly regenerating fragments. By September these axes numbered 352 after 

 peaking in August at 402. Wind deflation of sand caused many shallow-buried 

 fragments to desiccate and die. 



Most fragments regenerated early in the season before the suamer drought. 

 Deep-buried regenerating fragments seemed to grow to the surface by 15 June. 

 To determine the validity of this observation, 10 fragments of Ammophila 

 breviligulata were burled at each of three depths in April 1979: 25, 50, and 

 90 centimeters. Seven fragments buried at 25 centimeters regenerated within 3 

 weeks; four fragments buried at 50 centimeters regenerated within 4 weeks; and 

 three fragments buried at 90 centimeters regenerated within 5 weeks (15 May). 



The winter overwashes of 1978-79 eroded only a small part of the 1978 

 drift line at site 1 fan. New drift material with many fragments was depos- 

 ited at the outer edges of vegetated drift lines. It was not possible to 

 distinguish 1979 fragments from recovering plants at site 1 without excavating 

 the plots. Nearby drift lines, outside permanent sites, were excavated to 



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