Morning Glories: Calystegia soldanella threatened, 1 by ByndeweedBeth

ByndeweedBeth wrote:
OSU is researching the threatened extinction of this beach morning glory:

Ammophila arenaria was introduced to the west coast of North
America in l868 to stabilize dunes in the San Francisco area.
The introduction came from Australia where it had been earlier
introduced from Europe. Because of its ability to thrive under
conditions of high wind and sand burial, the grass spread
rapidly, both by natural means and through its steadily increas-
ing use in sand stabilization projects.
A long-term result of this domination by a single, vigorous
species with 100% ground cover has been the suppression of many
of the numerous native, dune-building species: Elymus (Leymus)
mollis, Abronia latifolia, Covolvulus (Calystegia) soldanella,
Carex macrocephala, Glehnia leiocarpa, Lathyrus littoralis, Poa
macrantha, and others. None are immediately threatened with
extinction (except, perhaps, Abronia umbellata, at least in the
northwest) but they are much less seen than in former times.
Ammophila is also seen by some to be a long-term threat to the
scenic and recreational values of the extensive Oregon coastal
dune fields. This is debatable.