A hybrid beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria × A. breviligulata) is more productive and outcompetes its non-native parent species.

The ability of non-native species to successfully invade new ecosystems sometimes involves evolutionary processes such as hybridization. Hybridization can produce individuals with superior traits that give them a competitive advantage over their parent species, allowing for rapid spread. Here we assess growth, functional morphology, and species interactions between two non-native beachgrass species (Ammophila arenaria and A.

Plastid phylogenomic insights into the evolution of Caryophyllales.

The Caryophyllales includes 40 families and 12,500 species, representing a large and diverse clade of angiosperms. Collectively, members of the clade grow on all continents and in all terrestrial biomes and often occupy extreme habitats (e.g.

Literature-based latitudinal distribution and possible range shifts of two US east coast dune grass species ( and ).

Previous work on the US Atlantic coast has generally shown that coastal foredunes are dominated by two dune grass species, (American beachgrass) and (sea oats). From Virginia northward, dominates, while is the dominant grass south of Virginia. Previous work suggests that these grasses influence the shape of coastal foredunes in species-specific ways, and that they respond differently to environmental stressors; thus, it is important to know which species dominates a given dune system.