Plantlife
Smith (2015; 2021a) reported on the extraordinary botanical richness of the Sefton Coast, with over 1300 vascular plants recorded for the coastal zone, more than 1200 of them in the sand-dunes. The current figures are 1448 and 1281 respectively, an average of 11.6 taxa being added annually to the inventory since 2005.
Over 220 duneland plants are regionally or nationally notable. However, many of them, including most of the specialists, require short, open vegetation and patches of bare ground in which to thrive.
Only 66 species are known to have become extinct in the dune system. The North West Rare Plant Initiative, led by Joshua Styles, is attempting to re-introduce some of these lost species, where suitable habitat can be found.
The changing status of about 30 key duneland plants has been studied over recent decades, the results being published in scientific journals and summarised in a book (Smith, 2021a). Eight of them have been the subject of repeat surveys at time intervals ranging from 8 to 34 years (Smith 2021a).
Some appear to have done well, while others have declined, though the data on which these trends are based are often several years old. Thus, according to survey data, the endemic Isle of Man Cabbage, the ‘nationally rare’ Early Sand-grass and Baltic Rush at its only English locality have all increased. However, these species depend on open habitats that are susceptible to overgrowth and scrub development.
Recent studies show that several Baltic Rush sites in northern Birkdale slacks have been lost to scrub growth in the last decade, while the Early Sand-grass at Southport dunes is threatened by invading Sea Buckthorn and Japanese Rose. Flat-sedge (Blysmus compressus), a Section 41 species, declined by 17% between 2008 and 2018, this being attributed to competition from dense vegetation in wet-slacks (Smith & Lockwood, 2019).
Due to rapid siltation in the Ribble Estuary, large areas of ungrazed saltmarsh have developed in recent decades, providing a habitat for a diverse and specialised flora, including at least four species of Glasswort (Salicornia). Sea-lavenders, including a rare hybrid, colonised the saltmarsh at Marshside in 2008 and then increased rapidly (Smith & Lockwood, 2016).
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