Annual Review of Environment and Resources
Shifting Sands: Past, Present, and Future of Coastal Dunes
- M. Luisa Martínez
- Patrick A. Hesp
- Rodolfo Silva
- Juan B. Gallego-Fernández
- Alicia T.R. Acosta
- Joana Gaspar de Freitas
- Octavio Pérez-Maqueo
- Pedro A. Garzo
- Karla Salgado
- Rusty Feagin
- Patricia Moreno-Casasola
- Debora Lithgow
- Gabriela Mendoza-González
- Carmelo Maximiliano-Cordova
- Valeria Chávez
2026-07-27
Sandy beaches and coastal dunes are ecologically and culturally valuable environments that support unique biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services, including recreation, scenic beauty, and storm protection. This review summarizes dune formation processes, global distribution, and plant adaptations to sandy environments (psammophilous vegetation). Coastal dunes are increasingly threatened by direct impacts such as urbanization, mining, and dune stabilization, as well as by indirect pressures from climate change, including sea-level rise, erosion, and vegetation growth driven by warming and changes in precipitation. These combined effects lead to habitat loss, degradation, and the expansion of invasive species. Long-term changes in wave and wind regimes further alter dune dynamics. Assessing dune ecosystems with modern tools, including artificial intelligence, is essential for understanding their current condition and for guiding sustainable management strategies to conserve them.