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Saturday 21 OctOber 2023 locAl
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“California Dunes” Episode LXXI– (71)
NOORD — Aruba has a tions on an embryo dune
few areas that have some are harsh, with salt spray
beautiful dunes. Most of from the sea carried on
these areas are protect- strong winds. The dune is
ed by law which prohibits well drained and often dry,
motor vehicles to ride on and composed of calcium
them, like those at Califor- carbonate from seashells.
nia, behind the Lighthouse. Rotting seaweed, brought
We should thank our parrot in by storm waves adds nu-
fishes for their contribution, trients to allow pioneer spe-
because they bite on the cies to colonize the dune.
coral for food and spit out In Aruba some of these
the crusher calcium sand, pioneer species is the “tab-
which on its turn eventu- aco di piscado” Sesuvium
ally will be picked up by portulacastrum and "co-
the wind and accumulates corobano" “Tournefortia
all behind the beaches gnaphalodes” in our na-
forming these clear white tive language Papiamento
dunes. and also knows with the
name "sea lavender" These
The word "dune" came into plants are well adapted to
English from French around the harsh conditions of the
1790, which in turn came dunes.
from the word dūne and
today “duinen” in Dutch. A The dunes have a flora spe-
dune is a landform, a large cially adapted to the arid-
mass of wind-blown sand. ity of the soil, the mobility of
Dunes are common in de- the loose sandy substrate,
serted environments and the low nutrients and the
near beaches. salinity. Few species survive
in these extreme condi-
Some coastal areas have tions, but these habitats
one or more sets of dunes should not be underesti-
running parallel to the mated for this reason.
shoreline directly inland
from the beach. The dunes As we move away from
are important in protecting the sea, the intensity of
the land against potential the wind, the saline spray
ravages by storm waves and the mobility of the
from the sea. Although substrate are reduced. This
the most widely distributed makes the environmental
dunes are those associated conditions less extreme,
with coastal regions, the Dunes are made of sand- side of the dune is called the lee side. A side of a which is used by a greater
largest complexes of dunes sized particles, and may the stoss side; the down flow dune that the sand has slid number of species.
are found inland in dry re- consist of quartz, calcium side is called the lee side. down is called a slip face. The plant communities in
gions and associated with carbonate, snow, gypsum, Sand is pushed (creep) or the dunes are considered
ancient lake or sea beds. or other materials. The up- bounces (saltation) up the As a dune forms, plant suc- halophytes, that is, with
wind/upstream/up current stoss side, and slides down cession occurs. The condi- vegetation that lives in soils
with a high content of sol-
uble salts. ... The predomi-
nant fauna of the coastal
dunes are insects such
as bees, wasps and ants,
beetles, flies spiders, sea
birds and also lizards.
To get to know more re-
garding Aruba and its
origins, its animals, culture
etc., we highly recom-
mend you to book your
participation. Living our
cultural encounter session
is mind opening and en-
tertaining curious hearts for
decades. Mail us at etni-
Article by: Etnia Nativa anativa03@gmail.com.
Whatsapp us +297 592 2702 and book Our facilities and activities
your Aruban exprerience take place close to your
Etnia Nativa is close to the high rise hotels place.q
