Dunes
Shaped by wind and vegetation
A dune landscape is formed under the influence of wind and plant growth. Read more about the dunes of Grenspark Kalmthoutse Heide and the characteristic flora and fauna you will find there below.
Rather loose sand
They are beautiful, the dune massifs like Hazenduinen, Kriekelareduinen, Kambuusduinen and Wilgenduinen. They are also valuable: their natural value is recognised internationally. "Land dunes with bunt grass and ostrich grass" is even one of the special biotopes to be preserved according to the European Habitats Directive. In recent years, the unique drift sand landscape is in danger of disappearing due to increased nitrogen input. The result? The open sand plains grow dense and evolve into dry heathland. With good management, we prevent this: the sand must not become 'fixed'!
Give the wind room
With the help of the European LIFE fund, dune restoration, known as the HELA project, was carried out in the Paalberg area between 2006 and 2011. Surrounding forest was cut down: this gave the wind more room. Ploughing work was carried out in many places, allowing flora and fauna to develop in new clearings. A dune landscape develops in several successive stages. The result is a mosaic of bare sand, mosses, grasses and heather. This mix also results in a typical mix of plants and animals.
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Flora
Rough hair moss, heather purslane and sheep grass: fascinating names for unusual plants encountered in the duneslandscapes of Grenspark Kalmthoutse Heide.
Open sand has an extreme microclimate: in high summer heat the temperature sometimes rises to 50ยฐC, while in winter it is extremely cold. Moreover, sand does not retain water. It is therefore logical that only 'specialists' grow here. Pioneers of the open sand are mainly buntgrass, rough hair moss, sand seagrass and heather purslane.
The two grasses at the beginning of the dune landscape are buntgrass and sand seagrass.
Buntgrass first forms small clumps of grey-green pointed leaves. To make new shoots, it has to be repeatedly overrun by sand. Sand seagrass drills its metre-long rhizomes through the loose soil to where it finds sufficient moisture. Once these two have 'fixed' the sand a bit, mosses, lichens and grasses such as sheep grass, early grass and ostrich grass appear. When the sand stops drifting, scrub heather can also grow there.
Fauna
A number of insects have adapted to life in the harsh and dry environment of the open sandy plains: from the sand walking beetle to digger wasps and bees.
Extreme heat or severe cold: not every creature can cope with such extremes. Fortunately, the sand beetle can take off and land again in case of danger. It does so regularly. In good weather, spiders and caterpillars, digger wasps and digger bees are busy at work in the bare soil. We also see the larva of the ant lion here, digging a funnel-shaped pit in which it waits for an ant to pass by. In this biotope, the heath butterfly also flutters around: it deposits its eggs on short grasses among bare sand and the larvae pupate in a hole in the soil.
Unexpected to many visitors is the fact that toads also live in these dunes. More specifically: the natterjack toad. During the day, it burrows into the loose sand. Especially in the morning you see its tracks, because at night it searches for food.