Diario del proyecto Hybrid Beachgrass Mapping in the Pacific Northwest

Our iNaturalist project was featured on OPB! Check out the article which describes our discovery of a hybrid beachgrass and encourages people to help out by joining the iNaturalist search.

https://www.opb.org/article/2021/06/01/hybrid-beachgrass-could-mean-trouble-for-northwest-coast/

Jes Burns, the journalist who reported our story, shared this wonderful analogy for hybrid vigor on twitter:
"I learned a new concept reporting this story: hybrid vigor.
It's like if Space Ghost & Aquaman had a baby that was able to breathe in lava, not just H2O & in space.

In OR, a newly confirmed hybrid beachgrass is taller than both its invasive parents."

Hello intrepid hybrid hunters!

The hybrid plants currently living at my experimental site in Newport have started to flower! That means the next few weeks are the PERFECT time to get out on the beach and try to identify new patches of the hybrid.

Step 1: Go to a stretch of sandy beach between Pacific City, OR and Moclips, WA.
Step 2: Look at which grasses are already flowering on the dune. The ones with the flowers already up, open and popped out of their leafy sheaths are A. arenaria! They probably look like this.
Step 3: Walk along the beach or dune looking for any patches of grass where the flowers are earlier in their season than the A. arenaria ones you just stared at. Maybe you find some that are just starting to pop up with no fluttery stamens poking out. Maybe they look more like this.
Step 4: Check those ligules! Check the ligules of any plants with "earlier looking" (aka less mature than A. arenaria) flowers. These are likely to be hybrids! Forgot what a ligule is? No problem, check out the ID guide again!
Step 5: Post whichever beachgrasses you see to iNaturalist and enjoy the beautiful beach!!!

Happy hunting!

Rebecca