Are Michigan’s Sand Dunes in Danger of Disappearing?

As we Michiganders know, you can visit the same beach twice and get a different view each time!

Michigan is home to a large collection of "living" sand dunes. They're also often referred to as "dynamic dunes" but what does that mean really?

Basically, they're constantly moving and eroding.

However, in recent years researchers have noticed Michigan's sand dunes are increasingly covered by vegetation such as plants and trees. True, the dunes need vegetation to keep them from blowing away completely, but what's the cause of this new vegetation and should we be concerned?

Two dune researchers, Kevin McKeehan and Alan Arbogast, are trying to get at the "root" of the cause of all this vegetation; while they say they have some theories they often find themselves left with more questions than answers.

Sands of Time

Using a process called "repeat photography" where photos are essentially compared side-by-side, McKeehan and Arbogast have noticed extreme changes along Michigan's east and west coast sand dunes.

Each image they compared, some as recent as 13 years ago all the way up to 100 years ago, all had the same thing in common:

less sand, more vegetation.

Why the Change?

Some speculate increased rainfall as the culprit of creating the perfect environment for vegetation to take hold and grow in the sand.

Others say increased CO2 levels in the air offers more nutrients for plants to flourish. Perhaps it's a sign of more invasive plant species? There has also been a measurable decrease in wind which could mean the dunes are moving less. McKeehan told Detroit's Fox 2,

there are potential culprits, but no smoking gun.

Think about all the towns along the lakeshore that count on beach tourism dollars to keep their communities afloat; all the dune buggies rides in places like Silver Lake and the Warren Dunes in Indiana, what would happen to them?

Perhaps this is just the next life cycle for our dunes. This period of inactivity may eventually be followed by another period of active change, and so on and so forth.

This is a great reminder to not take all the things that make Pure Michigan so special for granted including the fact that we have, "the largest dune system in the world associated with a freshwater lake."