“…By their nature, dunes are disturbed landscapes and, as such, can be susceptible to invasive species colonization. G. paniculata, with its deep taproot and large seed disbursement, has successfully directly competed for limited resources from more sensitive native species such as Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcher) (Leimbach-Maus et al, 2020;Yang et al, 2019). Grass planting programs, such as those around Ottawa Beach in the 1980s, have accomplished much the same effect, as one of our repeat photo pairs from that area demonstrates.…”