09/18/2020
Since 2001, biologists from the New Jersey Forest Service’s Office of Natural Lands Management have been walking every stretch of beach south of Sandy Hook surveying for a federally Threatened and state Endangered plant, Seabeach Amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus). In years where Seabeach Amaranth has been abundant, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has received help on those surveys from partners, including the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Army Corps of Engineers.
The annual 2020 census conducted by the NJDEP and funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service reported a total of 941 Seabeach amaranth plants; the 3rd highest population size recorded south of Sandy Hook since 2006.
Seabeach amaranth is an annual plant species with succulent, spinach-like leaves and minute, bright yellow anthers that pop out of its small flowers. The plant grows between the base of the dunes and the high tide line on our beaches and works with other early successional species to help form young dunes.
While this year’s census of 941 plants appears to be a major decline from last year's count of 7,195 plants, much higher numbers of amaranth plants were likely present during the growing season this year prior to Tropical Storm Isaias. The storm struck the coastline in early August and buried and/or damaged a large percentage of Seabeach Amaranth plants prior to survey completion. In addition, succession in certain areas coupled with an invasion from a non-native plant called Asiatic Sand Sedge (Carex kobomugi) has also led to a decrease in habitat for Seabeach Amaranth.
The primary threat to Seabeach Amaranth is not storms or habitat succession, which are natural events, but the widespread use of mechanical beach raking and ORVs on NJ's beaches. These actions severely limit habitat across the majority of the NJ shoreline. Non-profits such as Raritan Valley Community College, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, and Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ continue to work closely with townships, the state, and the federal government to expand conservation efforts to protect these critical habitats. The DEP Division of Land Resource Protection also regulates municipal beaches by protecting the habitat where Seabeach Amaranth and other federally listed plant and animal species occur. These efforts focus on increasing habitat protection without inhibiting the recreational uses vital to NJ's economy and culture.
The numbers of amaranth plants found this year despite the effects of Tropical Storm Isaias are significant, as they indicate the continued success of beach management efforts being implemented across the New Jersey shoreline to increase habitat for beach plant and animal species.
The impact from the storm and successional events won't be clear until future surveys are performed. As an annual plant, next year's population depends entirely upon seeds produced in previous years, and the lower amounts produced this year will, in all likelihood, affect the trajectory of recovery witnessed over the past few years.
Learn more about Seabeach Amaranth in our 2019 press release here: https://nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2019/19_0103.htm
