Research weeds out problems for Coast beach dunes

PhD research into the plants and insects of the Sunshine Coast’s beach dunes is identifying more ways to restore and revegetate the iconic environment – without the weeds.

Brittany Elliott, who is midway through her doctorate at USC, has completed an extensive six-month survey of coastal dune plants from Peregian Beach to Kings Beach, including both natural and highly urbanised areas.

She presented her initial results at the Ecological Society of Australia’s annual conference and will now use advanced genetic techniques in the laboratory at Sippy Downs to analyse insect samples as bioindicators of dune condition.

“My results suggested that four key tree species – pandanus, banksia, coastal she-oak and beach…