The Lanphere Dunes National Natural Landmark a unit of the

Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge is located on Humboldt Bay, on the California North Coast near the cities of Eureka and Arcata. The refuge exists primarily to protect and enhance wetland habitats for migratory water birds using the bay area ...

Complex, is located in Humboldt County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The dune complex consists of the wave slope, fore dune, herbaceous and woody swales, coniferous and riparian forest, freshwater swamp, freshwater

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

brackish marsh Brackish marshes develop from salt marshes where a significant freshwater influx dilutes the seawater to brackish levels of salinity. This commonly happens upstream from salt marshes by estuaries of coastal rivers or near the mouths of coastal riv ...

, salt marsh, and intertidal mudflats. The site exemplifies dunes succession.

History

The area was historically occupied by

Wiyot The Wiyot ( Wiyot: Wíyot, Chetco-Tolowa: Wee-’at xee-she or Wee-yan’ Xee-she’, Euchre Creek Tututni: Wii-yat-dv-ne - "Mad River People“, Yurok: Weyet) are an indigenous people of California living near Humboldt Bay, California and a s ...

prior to European settlement when, in the 1930s, William and Hortense Lanphere made it their home. For the next 40 years they maintained the dunes in a relatively pristine state. In 1975 a movement for permanent protection was made by the Lanpheres and faculty from Humboldt State University who used the area for botany classes. Working with The Nature Conservancy the area was protected and turned over to the National Wildlife Refuge System for management. Site management focuses on the prevention and eradication of invasive plants and the restoration of dune and estuarine processes. In January 2021, nine hundred acres of Lanphere Dunes and Ma-le’l Dunes, the first dune habitat restoration project on the West Coast, were designated as National Natural Landmarks by the U.S. Department of the Interior and will continue to be managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

Flora and fauna

Flora

Due to its isolation, Lanphere Dunes is home to many uncommon and geographically displaced flora including two federally listed species found in this habitat: Humboldt Bay wallflower (''Erysimum menziesii'' subsp. ''menziesii'') and beach layia (''Layia carnosa''). Other rare and endangered plants include Pink sand-verbena (''Abronia umbellata'' subsp.''brevifolia''), Humboldt Bay owl's clover (''Castilleja ambigua'' subsp. ''humboldtiensis''), Point Reyes bird's-beak (''Cordylanthus maritimus'' subsp. ''palustris''), dark-eyed gilia (''Gilia millefoliata''), American glehnia (''Glehnia littoralis'' subsp. ''leiocarpa''), western sand spurrey (''Spergularia canadensis'' subsp. ''occidentalis'') and the sea-watch (''Angelica lucida''). Other species of plants include

Kinnikinnick Kinnikinnick is a Native American and First Nations herbal smoking mixture, made from a traditional combination of leaves or barks. Recipes for the mixture vary, as do the uses, from social, to spiritual to medicinal. Etymology The term "kinni ...

(''Arcotstaphylos uva-ursi'') and

reindeer lichen ''Cladonia rangiferina'', also known as reindeer cup lichen, reindeer lichen (cf. Sw. ''renlav'') or grey reindeer lichen, is a light-colored fruticose, cup lichen species in the family Cladoniaceae. It grows in both hot and cold climates in w ...

(''Cladonia rangiferina''). Many of the lichens and flora that still thrive in the Lanphere Dunes, including reindeer lichens, date back to the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

. Varieties of flora often found in Lanphere Dunes that are typically common are often far away from their natural ranges. Sands that are blown in with the occasional ocean breezes remain trapped in the forests, killing off the trees and leaving behind "skeleton forests," areas where all the husks of former trees are plentiful. American Dunegrass (

Leymus mollis ''Leymus mollis'' is a species of grass known by the common names American dune grass, American dune wild-rye, sea lyme-grass, strand-wheat,Higman, P. J. and M. R. Penskar. 1999Special plant abstract for ''Leymus mollis'' (American dune wild-rye) ...

) used to be plentiful, once found along the west coast as south as Morro Bay in California, this native grass now occurs in just two areas along the California coast, Point Reyes and the Lanphere Dunes. European Beachgrass is an invasive species that was found to be omnipresent in the Lanphere Dunes, having taken over many of the areas formally occupied by native grasses. Between 1992 and 1997, European Beachgrass from the dune zone was manually removed by laborers from the California Conservation Corps funded by the

Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

. After starting the restoration project in 1992, native plant cover in Lanphere Dunes increased by 47% by the year 1997 without the assistance of active re-planting. Native species of dunes grass that have experienced a comeback in population count are American dunegrass, silver bursage, beach morning glory ('' Convolvulus soldanella''), and dune tansy also referred to as (''Tanacetum douglasii''). Together, all these dune grasses form the fore dune's ecosystem that used to be extensive along the coast before the spread of invasive species.

Fauna

Lanphere Dunes provides shelter and forage for larger animals including

black-tailed deer Two forms of black-tailed deer or blacktail deer that occupy coastal woodlands in the Pacific Northwest of North America are subspecies of the mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus''). They have sometimes been treated as a species, but virtually all r ...

, bobcat,

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

, grey fox and porcupine. Smaller mammals that live in Lanphere Dunes include the

dusky-footed woodrat The dusky-footed woodrat (''Neotoma fuscipes'') is a species of nocturnal rodent in the family Cricetidae. They are commonly called "packrats" or "trade rats" and build large, domed dens that can reach several feet in height. Coyotes and other ...

, white-footed deer mouse,

Pacific jumping mouse The Pacific jumping mouse (''Zapus trinotatus'') is a species of rodent in the family Zapodidae. Found in Canada and the United States, its natural habitats are temperate grassland and swamps. Description Pacific jumping mice can be distinguis ...

, California harvest mouse, Trowbridge shrew,

Vagrant shrew The vagrant shrew (''Sorex vagrans''), also known as the wandering shrew, is a medium-sized North American shrew. At one time, the montane shrew and the Orizaba long-tailed shrew were considered to belong to the same species. Range and habitat ...

shrew moles The shrew moles or shrew-like moles (''Uropsilus'') are shrew-like members of the mole family of mammals endemic to the forested, high-alpine region bordering China, Myanmar, and Vietnam. They possess a long snout, a long slender tail, ext ...

, California voles, the rare white-footed vole and Botta's pocket gopher (Homomys bottae laticeps) are recorded. Due to their adaptability, coyote,

gray fox The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener, the diminutive island fox (''Urocyon littor ...

Virginia opossum The Virginia opossum (''Didelphis virginiana''), also known as the North American opossum, is the only opossum living north of Mexico, its range extending south into Central America. It is the northernmost marsupial in the world. In the United S ...

and

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

can be found in a wide variety of the refuge habitats.

References

External links