Oregon State University research shows two invasive beachgrasses are hybridizing

by Steve Lundeberg, Oregon State University
May 22, 2021

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Two species of sand-stabilizing beachgrasses introduced to the Pacific Northwest starting in the early 1900s are hybridizing, raising new questions about impacts to the coastal ecosystems the non-native plants have been engineering for more than a century.

Researchers in the Oregon State University College of Science identified the hybrid in a paper published in Ecosphere.

In addition to their ecological implications, the findings are important in the context of coastal vulnerability to the effects of climate change, including increasing danger from flooding and erosion from storms and rising water.

Keep reading: https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/oregon-state-university-research-shows-two-invasive-beachgrasses-are-hybridizing

Read the Ecosphere paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.3501