Big Bend Research Articles

Controls On Sedimentation and Cyclicity of the Boquillas and Equivalent Eagle Ford Formation from Detailed Outcrop Studies of Western and Central Texas, U.S.A.

AbstractFacies of the Boquillas and equivalent Eagle Ford Formation can be assigned to two associations: a hydrodynamically recycled association and a pelagic association. The hydrodynamically recycled association is composed of lenticular to continuous cross-laminated lime packstone–grainstone, heterolithic facies, and intraclastic grainstone conglomerate with intercalated calcareous mudrock. Sharp bedding contacts, abundant scours, ripple cross-lamination, oscillatory-current indicators, hummocky cross-bedding, and rounded clasts indicate recycling of the bottom sediments by storms and bottom currents above storm wave base (SWB). The pelagic association is composed of continuous lime packstone to grainstone and chalk beds with intercalated calcareous mudrock. Gradational contacts and planar lamination indicate dominant deposition by pelagic rain, but scour surfaces, coarse-fine alternations, and ripple cross-laminae indicate the influence of bottom currents below SWB.Vertical shifts between the hydrodynamically recycled association, interpreted to represent storm agitation of the seafloor during falls in sea level, alternate with the pelagic association and define four sequence boundaries and three depositional sequences with a lower-order periodicity (third-order periodicity, ca. average 2.4 My). Sequence boundaries correspond approximately to member boundaries recognized by gamma-ray profiles. Spectral analysis reveals higher-frequency mudrock–carbonate cycles prominent in the pelagic association, likely resulting from Milankovitch climate forcing of planktonic carbonate productivity versus clay flux. Comparison of gamma-corrected spectra with absolute age constraints reveals that the Ernst Tinaja section (in Big Bend National Park) is less than 28% complete. This is interpreted to result from abundant depositional hiatuses and erosional gaps that occur at the bed scale and at member boundaries within and bounding the Eagle Ford Formation.We demonstrate that deep-marine pelagic deposits in epicratonic settings may be subject to a complex interaction of depositional processes including pelagic rain and recycling by bottom currents and wave-generated currents modulated by low-frequency sea-level fluctuation and high-frequency fluctuations in sediment supply.

An unusual ‘shovel-billed’ dinosaur with trophic specializations from the early Campanian of Trans-Pecos Texas, and the ancestral hadrosaurian crest

We describe a new genus and species of hadrosaurid dinosaur, Aquilarhinus palimentus, from the lower shale member of the Aguja Formation (lower Campanian) of Big Bend National Park, south-western Texas. This species is characterized by several autapomorphies of the facial skeleton and mandible, including a crest composed of broadly arched nasals. Notably, the symphyseal processes of the dentary are elongated and reflected dorsally, causing the dentaries to meet with a ‘W’-shaped anterior profile. A hypothesized shovel-shaped ‘bill’, associated with widening of the skull, in A. palimentus might have been used in shovelling out and scooping up semiaquatic vegetation. This animal is otherwise superficially similar to kritosaurins like Gryposaurus but differs in the retention of key plesiomorphic character states in the maxilla and jugal. Phylogenetic analysis reveals Aquilarhinus to be a non-saurolophid hadrosaurid allied to Latirhinus from the late Campanian of Mexico, which bears a similar broadly arched nasal. The recognition of this lineage adds to the diversity of non-saurolophid hadrosaurids and points to the existence of a hitherto unknown diversity of ‘duck-billed’ dinosaurs outside of the saurolophine-lambeosaurine radiation. Cranial crests were ancestral for early hadrosaurids and evolved before the saurolophid radiation. Ancestrally, crests were ‘solid’, and consisted of arched nasals. These were retained among kritosaurins and subsequently modified into the diverse crest morphologies observed among derived saurolophines. Lambeosaurine ‘hollow-crested’ crest morphology departed from the ancestral, ‘solid-crested’ pre-saurolophid condition early following the origin of that clade.http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F7CE1BE7-1A76-4628-8510-93C37A1A807E

Myrmecicultoridae, a New Family of Myrmecophilic Spiders from the Chihuahuan Desert (Araneae: Entelegynae)

The new genus and species Myrmecicultor chihuahuensis Ramirez, Grismado, and Ubick is described and proposed as the type of the new family, Myrmecicultoridae Ramirez, Grismado, and Ubick. The species is ecribellate, with entelegyne genitalia, two tarsal claws, without claw tufts, and the males have a retrolateral palpal tibial apophysis. Some morphological characters suggest a possible relationship with Zodariidae or Prodidomidae, but the phylogenetic analysis of six markers from the mitochondrial (12S rDNA, 16S rDNA, cytochrome oxidase subunit I) and nuclear (histone H3, 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA) genomes indicate that M. chihuahuensis is a separate lineage emerging near the base of the Dionycha and the Oval Calamistrum clade. The same result is obtained when the molecular data are combined with a dataset of morphological characters. Specimens of M. chihuahuensis were found associated with three species of harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Novomessor albisetosis, and Novomessor cockerelli, and were collected in pitfall traps when the ants are most active. The known distribution spans the Big Bend region of Texas (Presidio, Brewster, and Hudspeth counties), to Coahuila (Cuatro Cienegas) and Aguascalientes (Tepezala), Mexico.

Three-dimensional visualization of top-down superimposed thrust sheets in the SW Grenville Province, Ontario

AbstractTo properly understand the tectonic history of the Grenville Province it is necessary to have a reliable, scientifically based understanding of the present-day three-dimensional (3D) structure of the orogen. Based on detailed Nd isotope mapping of surface boundaries and Lithoprobe seismic sections, this study provides the first detailed visualization of the 3D structure of the Grenville gneiss belt in Ontario using the SketchUp software package. The 3D visualization supports a model in which thrust geometry was imposed from the top downwards, controlled by the NW boundary of the Central Metasedimentary Belt that originated as a failed back-arc rift zone. The Central Metasedimentary Belt boundary controlled the trajectory of the Allochthon Boundary Thrust, its underlying tectonic duplex and, ultimately, the Grenville Front. This process of superimposed thrusting explains the large-scale change in the trajectory of the Grenville Front north of Georgian Bay that has been called the ‘Big Bend’. To assist in visualizing the 3D model, a fly-through animation is provided in the supplementary material.

Statistical methods to enable practical on-site tomographic imaging of whole-core samples

Statistical methods enable the use of portable industrial scanners with sparse measurements, suitable for fast on-site whole-core X-ray computed tomography (CT), as opposed to conventional (medical) devices that use dense measurements. This approach accelerates an informed first-stage general assessment of core samples. To that end, this novel industrial tomographic measurement principle is feasible for rock-sample imaging, in conjunction with suitable forms of priors in Bayesian inversion algorithms. Gaussian, Cauchy, and total variation priors yield different inversion characteristics for similar material combinations. An evaluation of the inversion performance in rock samples considers, in a discrete form, conditional mean estimators, via Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms with noise-contaminated measurements. Additionally, further assessment indicates that this statistical approach better characterizes the attenuation contrast of rock materials, compared with simultaneous iterative reconstruction techniques. Benchmarking includes X-ray CT from numerical simulations of synthetic and measurement-based whole-core samples. To this end, we consider tomographic measurements of fine- to medium-grained sandstone core samples, with igneous-rich pebbles from the Miocene, off the Shimokita Peninsula in Japan, and fractured welded tuff from Big Bend National Park, Texas. Bayesian inversion results confirm that with only 16 radiograms, natural fractures with aperture of less than 2 mm wide are detectable. Additionally, reconstructed images found approximately spherical concretions of 6 mm diameter. To achieve similar results, filtered back projection techniques require hundreds of radiograms, only possible with conventional laboratory scanners.

A Bayesian spatio-temporal analysis on racial disparities in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in Florida, 2005–2014

Disparities in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) exist among racial and ethnic groups in the US. However, little is known about spatio-temporal variations in HDP disparities. We used a Bayesian hierarchical regression approach to investigate spatio-temporal variations in HDP disparities from 2005 to 2014. County-level variation was firstly examined, followed by census tract-level variation assessment in counties where high HDP disparities were observed. A significant disadvantage in HDP was revealed for African Americans in Florida overall (Odds Ratio: 1.27, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.25, 1.29), with significant spatial variations. The greatest HDP disparities between African Americans and non-African Americans occurred in North Central Florida counties (the Big Bend region of Florida), with consistent patterns from 2005 to 2014. Analyses at census tract-level further revealed significant neighborhood disparities within these counties. Findings from this study provide important information for public health agencies and policymakers to reduce HDP disparities at the population level.

Establishment of Arundo Wasp, Tetramesa romana1, at Big Bend National Park

Establishment of Arundo Wasp, Tetramesa romana1, at Big Bend National Park

Kinematics of southern California crustal deformation: Insights from finite-element models

Two sets of finite-element model suites were developed to address discrepancies between geodetic and geologic fault slip rates in southern California, as well as the extent of “off-fault” deformation that does not result from interseismic elastic strain around known, locked faults. The GPS-constrained models represent current deformation, while the strain energy rate (TSE) minimizing models represent a long-term average of deformation that has occurred over thousands to millions of years. Both classes of models suggest low slip rates (<29 mm/yr) for the San Andreas Fault (SAF) in the Mojave and Big Bend regions. A summed slip rate of less than 8 mm/yr is also inferred for thrust faults accommodating shortening across the Transverse Ranges. GPS-constrained, locked models suggest high slip rates for the Imperial Fault and the Coachella SAF (>35 mm/yr and >32 mm/yr) but TSE-constrained, unlocked models suggest much lower slip rates for these two faults. All models are consistent with strain transfer from the SAF Coachella segment to the Eastern California Shear Zone, bypassing the SAF, but the GPS-constrained models suggest this far more strongly. This would seem to support variations in rates of fault slip and regional deformation patterns over millennial timescales, but the comparable Mojave SAF slip rates for both model classes is inconsistent with this hypothesis. Assuming a “propeller” geometry for the SAF (Fuis et al., 2012, 2017) does not alter inferred slip rates. Correcting the GPS velocity field for seismic cycle effects associated with large earthquakes on the 1857 SAF rupture segment increases the inferred slip rate of the Mojave South segment of the San Andreas fault by up to about 5 mm/yr. “Off-fault” deformation accounts for 38% of the total moment accumulation in the preferred GPS-constrained model, broadly consistent with previous estimates.

Elemental abundance patterns and Sr-, Nd- and Hf-isotope systematics for the Yellowstone hotspot and Columbia River flood basalts: Bearing on petrogenesis

The Yellowstone hotspot track in the northwestern US has a 17-myr history that began with eruption of the voluminous Columbia River basalts (CRB), and produced an eastward track with the bimodal rhyolite and basaltic eruptive centers of the Snake River Plain (SRP) as the North American Plate drifted westwards. We have generated the first Hf isotopic data on basalts in this large igneous province along with bulk-rock trace-element abundance patterns and Sr-Nd isotopic ratios to assess the hypothesized kinship with co-located rhyolites throughout the hotspot track. The isotopic compositions for all three elements span much of the compositional range observed in mantle-derived basalts worldwide. Varying between a high of +11.3 in parts of the CRB and a low of −8.3 in some of the late SRP basalts, the new εHf values are geographically controlled, similar to the shift first documented with Sr and Nd isotopes across the “0.706 Sr line,” which marks the boundary between thin- accreted young ocean lithosphere and arc terranes in the west to thick, old cratonized crust in the east. This observation shows that there is significant lithospheric control on the isotopic compositions of both basalts and rhyolites associated with the Yellowstone hotspot track.Modeling of assimilation and fractional crystallization (AFC) processes in seven basaltic lava flows filling the 2-Ma Big Bend Ridge Caldera at Mesa Falls, Idaho, near the eastern end of the hotspot track suggests that the crustal contribution to the Nd and Hf concentration budgets increases systematically with time and was significant. A comparison of new and previously published bulk-rock major-oxide concentrations (e.g., the alkalis Na2O and K2O) with our previously published data for H2O, Cl, F and S in olivine-hosted melt inclusions suggests that the volatiles are sub-crustal, possibly from the lithospheric mantle, and degas extensively during magma ascent and crystallization.

Common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) abundance and distribution patterns in St Andrew Bay, Florida, USA

Abstract Common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are found in temperate and tropical waters of the world across a wide range of habitats. Along Florida's north‐western coast, this species resides in the bays, sounds, and estuaries (BSE) and coastal (CST) waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. The National Marine Fisheries Service has identified one CST (Northern Coastal Stock) and seven adjacent BSE dolphin stocks, including the St Andrew Bay BSE Stock. Baseline data are critical to assess the impacts of ongoing and future anthropogenic stressors on these stocks. Currently, there is no comprehensive abundance estimate for the St Andrew Bay BSE Stock, and there are limited data on distribution patterns and site fidelity for this stock. In addition, little is known about the Northern Coastal Stock hypothesized to range from the Big Bend of Florida to the Mississippi River Delta, inclusive of the CST waters adjacent to St Andrew Bay. The goals of this study were to conduct photographic‐identification surveys during 2015 and 2016 to determine abundance, distribution, and site fidelity of common bottlenose dolphins in the St Andrew Bay BSE Stock over four primary periods (July and October 2015, and April and October 2016). St Andrew Bay BSE dolphin abundance was lowest in April 2016 (199, 95% confidence interval [CI] 173–246), followed by July 2015 (249, 95% CI 199–338), and highest in October 2015 (299, 95% CI 259–361) and October 2016 (315, 95% CI 274–378). Few individuals were sighted in both BSE and CST waters (N = 25/353; 7%), and this fact, taken in tandem with limited connections between the BSE and CST environments, suggests that there may be minimal overlap between the St Andrew Bay BSE and Northern Coastal Stocks.

The Whole Damn Cheese: Maggie Smith, Border Legend by Bill Wright

Reviewed by: The Whole Damn Cheese: Maggie Smith, Border Legend by Bill Wright Leah LaGrone Ochoa The Whole Damn Cheese: Maggie Smith, Border Legend. By Bill Wright. (Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 2018. Pp.160. Photographs, notes, appendix). In The Whole Damn Cheese, author and photographer Bill Wright has produced a biography of a woman named Maggie Smith, who claimed strength and patriotism through hard work and endurance in the Big Bend. Using vivid images, both written and photographic, Wright helps inject life into the personal narrative of a woman who survived living in the rural and arid West Texas landscape in the first half of the twentieth century. His purpose is to revive a family history and prevent the life of “a remarkable woman from being lost” (2–3). Born in 1895 on a ranch outside of Carrizo Springs, Texas, Maggie Smith spent her youth along the Texas–Mexico border, eventually moving to Hot Springs, where she built her reputation, according to Wright. Starting in the 1920s, Smith married twice, had five children, operated a general store, and worked as a midwife, coroner, and justice of the peace. [End Page 255] Embodying the self-reliant spirit of people living in remote areas, and lacking formal education, Smith provided care in a variety of ways for the people along the western Rio Grande border. She built special relationships with Mexican families by making sure that everyone received attention and services, from brewing concoctions for treating the intestinal flu that plagued the region in 1942 to the minor surgery of digging fishhooks from her own hand. During Smith’s “life at the Springs” locals regarded her as the “river renegade” (116–117) because she often smuggled goods across the river to provide care for people living in the small town. She stocked her store, cooked meals for the locals, and stood up against officials who tried to regulate her activities. Wright examines the working-class self-reliance of a woman who departed from traditional gender roles and adapted to necessity. By describing Smith’s role in her remote community, Wright reconstructs the life of women who, of necessity, did not conform to the social expectations of more settled regions. The reader can imagine the strength it took for all women in this landscape to survive day-to-day. Maggie Smith’s life during this period of Texas–Mexico border history comes to embody the ingenuity required to care for others where few modern amenities existed. An important note, however, is that Wright’s style approaches frontier nostalgia. He uses words like “savage,” “wild,” and “primitive” to describe Native Americans, Mexicans, and the landscape itself. In focusing so tightly on Maggie Smith, an Anglo woman living along the Mexican border, he erases the history of the other people who lived there, using them as props to highlight Smith’s seemingly heroic actions. A conflict between white settlers and Native Americans occurs on land that is “on the edge of civilization,” and the Indigenous people themselves “considered the land their own” (20). Wright does not provide any context of Native American history in the area; instead, he sets white pioneer fortitude in a “hostile environment” where “Indians” often resorted to “savage attempts to protect their territory” (4, 15). He practices the same erasure of Mexican historical figures, rarely naming Mexican men and women who interact with Smith. Many of the stories emphasize how Smith helped “the Mexicans,” but Wright does not examine the reciprocal relationship between Smith and the community in depth. On the other hand, Wright does utilize archival information to construct a solid, well-researched narrative of Smith’s life. He combines oral histories, local newspaper reports, census data, genealogical records, and secondary materials to establish her story. The book is a quick read and provides interesting background about rural West Texas in the first half of the twentieth century, making it a starting point for deeper research. Although providing, without context, closing opinions from her family about Smith’s lack of prejudice, he still successfully portrays her as a resourceful woman who navigated a full transborder life. In other words, [End Page 256] Wright emphasizes that Maggie Smith was...

Salinity tolerance of a rare and endangered unionid mussel, Popenaias popeii (Texas Hornshell) and its implications for conservation and water management

Unionid mussels are considered sensitive to salinity and there is growing concern in arid and semi-arid regions that declining flows coupled with anthropogenic impacts are amplifying natural salinity levels. In this study, we tested the effects of varying salinity concentrations (3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0 and 10.0 ppt NaCl) on survival of adult Popenaias popeii, (Texas Hornshell). This species occurs in the Rio Grande basin of Texas and northern Mexico, an arid to semi-arid stream plagued by salinization, and was recently listed as Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. We performed 2, 4, and 10-day toxicity tests on individuals from two disjunct populations: Laredo, TX, and the Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande near Big Bend National Park. We found no significant differences in LC50 estimates between populations at 96-hrs or 10-days but significant differences in TUD50s at 5 ppt between populations, which indicates that tolerance does not vary but sensitivity may between these populations. Overlaying LC50 estimates at 10-days for both populations on plots of salinity (ppt) measured over time, we show parts of the Rio Grande periodically approach or exceed 4.0 ppt, indicating these reaches are becoming unsuitable for P. popeii and populations within them at risk.

Warm Terrestrial Subtropics During the Paleocene and Eocene: Carbonate Clumped Isotope (Δ47) Evidence From the Tornillo Basin, Texas (USA)

AbstractRecords of subtropical climate on land from the early Paleogene offer insights into how the Earth system responds to greenhouse climate conditions. Fluvial and floodplain deposits of the Tornillo Basin (Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA) preserve a record of environmental and climatic change of the Paleocene and the early Eocene. We report carbon, oxygen, and clumped isotopic compositions (δ13C, δ18O, and Δ47) of paleosol carbonate nodules from this basin. Mineralogical, geochemical, and thermal modeling evidence suggests that the measured isotopic values preserve primary environmental signals with a summer bias with the exception of data from two nodules reset by local igneous intrusions. The unaltered nodules record Δ47 temperatures of 25 ± 4 and 32 ± 2 °C for the Paleocene and early Eocene nodules, respectively, showing an increase in average summer temperatures of 7 ± 3 °C. Calculations of δ18O of soil water are −2.8 ± 0.7‰ and −0.8 ± 0.4‰ (standard mean ocean water) for the early‐mid‐Paleocene and late Paleocene‐early Eocene, showing an increase of 2.0 ± 0.9‰. The increase in temperature and δ18O values likely relates to a rise in atmospheric pCO2, although we cannot rule out that changes in paleosol texture and regional precipitation patterns also influence the record. Comparison with Δ47 estimates of summer temperature from the Green River and Bighorn Basins (WY) highlights that terrestrial surface temperatures are heterogeneous, and latitudinal temperature gradients on land remain undetermined. Previously published paleoclimate models predict summer temperatures that are 2 to 6 °C higher than our estimate; discrepancies between climate models and proxy data persist at lower latitudes.

Rapid Coastal Forest Decline in Florida’s Big Bend

Coastal ecosystems throughout the world are increasingly vulnerable to degradation as a result of accelerating sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion, more frequent and powerful extreme weather events, and anthropogenic impacts. Hardwood swamp forests in the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf of Mexico coast (USA) are largely devoid of the latter, but have degraded rapidly since the turn of the 21st Century. Photographs of the forest, collected on the ground since 2009, were used to guide an analysis of a 60 km2 study area using satellite images. The images confirm that the coastal forest area declined 0.60% from 1982 to 2003, but degraded rapidly, by 7.44%, from 2010 to 2017. The forest declined most rapidly along waterways and at the coastal marsh–forest boundary. Additional time series of aerial-photographs corroborated the onset of degradation in 2010. Degradation continued through 2017 with no apparent recovery. Previous research from the area has concluded that increased tidal flooding and saltwater intrusion, of the coastal plain, represent a chronic stress driving coastal forest decline in this region, but these drivers do not explain the abrupt acceleration in forest die-off. Local tide gage data indicate that sea-level rise is 2 mm yr−1 and accelerating, while meteorological data reveal at least two short-term cold snap events, with extreme temperatures exceeding the reported temperature threshold of local vegetation (−10 °C) between January 2010 and January 2011, followed by more extremes in 2016. The Big Bend hardwood forest experienced acute cold snap stress during the 2010–2017 period, of a magnitude not experienced in the previous 20 years, that compounded the chronic stress associated with sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion. This and other coastal forests can be expected to suffer further widespread and lasting degradation as these stresses are likely to be sustained.

The Old Army in the Big Bend of Texas: The Last Cavalry Frontier, 1911–1921. By Thomas “Ty” Smith. Foreword by David W. Keller

<i>The Old Army in the Big Bend of Texas: The Last Cavalry Frontier, 1911–1921</i>. By Thomas “Ty” Smith. Foreword by David W. Keller

Saltwater intrusion in a subtropical estuary

River discharge, precipitation, wind, water level and salinity measurements were used to investigate saltwater intrusion in a subtropical estuary. The upstream limit of saltwater intrusion was defined by the position of the 2 g/kg isohaline (X2) as it changed each tidal cycle. Observations were obtained from November 2014 to November 2015 along the Suwannee River, at Florida's Big Bend. Observations provided information to construct a first-order autoregressive Markov-chain model and predict X2. The model predicts X2 from its position in the previous tidal cycle, from river discharge, from water level, from precipitation and from wind velocity. In order to capture the seasonality of the Suwannee River discharge, the analysis was done separately for high and low river discharge regimes. The high discharge regime for the particular year of observations coincided with the cold season and had a mean value of 360 m3/s. The low discharge regime overlapped with the warm season and had a mean of 198 m3/s. As expected, saltwater intrusion was inversely related to river discharge. Values of X2 were 0.4 km for a discharge of 377 m3/s, and 6 km for a discharge of 195 m3/s. The autoregressive model was able to reproduce the observed seasonality of saltwater intrusion in the Suwannee River. The model was then used to project values of X2 for different scenarios of climate change as represented by possible combinations of river discharge and water levels.

Squareflower, Paronychia erecta

Squareflower is found in beach dunes, coastal grasslands, and scrub. This plant is an endemic restricted to the coastal Panhandle of Florida, counties west of the Big Bend region, and west to Louisiana. The square outline of the inflorescence is unique and makes squareflower a desirable plant for coastal landscapes.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg179&#x0D; This publication is derived from information in SGEB-75/SG156, Dune Restoration and Enhancement for the Florida Panhandle, by Debbie Miller, Mack Thetford, Christina Verlinde, Gabriel Campbell, and Ashlynn Smith. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg156.

Bitter Panicgrass, Bitter Panicum, Panicum amarum

Bitter panicgrass is important in dune stabilization and building and often grows intermixed with sea oats onforedunes. It is also found spread throughout back dunes, interdunal swales, and coastal grasslands. This plantoccurs throughout coastal Florida, except for the Big Bend coast, west to New Mexico, and along coastal northeast states to Massachusetts. A significant proportion of bitter panicgrass reproduction is by vegetative spread; its seeds are often sterile.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg178&#x0D; This publication is derived from information in SGEB-75/SG156, Dune Restoration and Enhancement for the Florida Panhandle, by Debbie Miller, Mack Thetford, Christina Verlinde, Gabriel Campbell, and Ashlynn Smith. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg156.

Seacoast Marshelder, Iva imbricata

Seacoast marshelder is an important plant for dune restoration, stabilization, and formation because of itsability to trap sand. It grows on foredunes and forms low, rounded dunes as sand accumulates (Craig 1991). As the aboveground portions of the plant become buried by sand, rooting is stimulated in stem tissue (Craig 1975). This gives the appearance that the plant is rhizomatous when in fact it is the sand burial resulting in the presence of below-ground stems. This plant occurs throughout coastal Florida (except for the Big Bend coast) and in coastal southeastern states west to Texas and northeast to Virginia.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg174&#x0D; This publication is derived from information in SGEB-75/SG156, Dune Restoration and Enhancement for the Florida Panhandle, by Debbie Miller, Mack Thetford, Christina Verlinde, Gabriel Campbell, and Ashlynn Smith. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg156.

Coastal Groundcherry, Physalis angustifolia

Coastal groundcherry occurs on beach dunes, coastal grasslands, coastal scrub, and disturbed areas. This plantis found throughout coastal counties on the west coast of Florida—except for the Big Bend region and the extreme southeasternmost counties—and more broadly west to Louisiana. Threatened and endangered beach mice and many other animals rely on this plant as a food source. Plants can be longed-lived and form relatively thick tuberous roots. Coastal groundcherry can hybridize with other Physalis species, particularly with P. viscosa, and has long frustrated plant taxonomists because of the inherent variation within the genus (Sullivan 1985).https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg180&#x0D; This publication is derived from information in SGEB-75/SG156, Dune Restoration and Enhancement for the Florida Panhandle, by Debbie Miller, Mack Thetford, Christina Verlinde, Gabriel Campbell, and Ashlynn Smith. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg156.