Sand Dunes - St Cyrus

St Cyrus is located to the southern end of the East Grampian Coast. The St Cyrus site is designated as a National Nature Reserve (NNR) and as part of the wider St Cyrus and Kinnaber Links Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) (fig. 1). St Cyrus and Kinnaber Links SSSI is designated for 8 features: sand dune, shingle, saltmarsh, lowland neutral grassland, breeding bird assemblage, vascular plant assemblage, moths, and small blue butterfly. 

St Cyrus hosts a range of coastal habitats including cliffs, beach, dune grasslands, and sand dunes (NatureScot, n.d., c), with a range of different sand dune vegetation communities (fig. 2). There are a number of species which can be found in the sand dunes at St Cyrus, from widespread to rare. From butterflies such as common blue (Polyommatus icarus) and small copper (Lycaena phlaeas), to grasses and vascular plants such as  sea lyme grass (Leymus arenarius), clustered bellflower (Campanula glomerata) and maiden pink (Dianthus deltoides), to fungi such as wax caps and parasol mushroom (Macrolepiota procera). Common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) have been recorded sunbathing in the dunes (NatureScot, n.d., b).

Factors impacting site:
St Cyrus sand dunes are facing two main pressures: visitor footfall and extreme weather. People visiting St Cyrus for recreation such as hiking, dog walking, or wildlife walking can impact on the dunes, creating informal routes from footfall which erode the dune ridges. St Cyrus NNR staff try to manage visitors so the pressures are focused on a small number of locations, letting marram grass and other dune vegetation re-colonise any eroded areas (Alampo, 2018).

Extreme weather events are also influencing the dune systems, with storms and exceptional high tides influencing mobility of sand and increasing erosion rates (Alampo, 2018).