Topsoil inversion as a restoration measure in sand dunes, early results from a UK field-trial M. Laurence M. Jones & Kim Norman & Peter M. Rhind Received: 7 April 2009 / Revised: 13 September 2009 / Accepted: 18 September 2009 / Published online: 9 October 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009 Abstract Over-stabilisation and eutrophication affect many dune systems in north-west Europe. This leads to lower diversity of typical dune species and an accumulation of soil nutrients. Existing management techniques to remove excess nutrients include mowing, with removal of cuttings, and turf stripping. A new restoration technique called topsoil inversion or deep ploughing may also be able to counter some of the negative effects of eutrophication. It simulates the burial of established soils with fresh mineral sand, by inverting the soil profile. A trial was carried out on two small blocks of eutrophic dune grassland in North Wales, UK. Nutrient-rich surface soils were buried beneath mineral sub-sand using a double-bladed plough, designed to plough to depths of up to 100 cm. Results show that the organic soil horizons were buried to a depth of 80 cm, and covered with 40–50 cm of mineral sand. The pH and organic matter of the surface layers became comparable to those of mobile dunes. Fifteen months after ploughing, bare sand cover was still 70–90%, but significant sand loss through wind erosion resulted in a thinning of the mineral sand over-burden, leaving the buried organic layer closer to the surface. Natural vegetation colonisation was slow, with the first surviving plants observed after 8 months. The majority of species present at 15 months were present before ploughing and had regenerated from rhizomes or root fragments. The effect of excluding disturbance caused by rabbits, people and dogs was assessed within fenced areas. After 11 months, vegetation cover was greater in the fenced areas than in plots exposed to disturbance, therefore disturbance replaced physical conditions as the dominant influence on plant growth and establishment. These early results suggest the trial has been partially successful, but that topsoil inversion could be combined with other methods such as turf stripping or by stabilisation of the ploughed surface by planting with pioneer species, depend- ing on the ultimate restoration goal. Keywords Eutrophication . Deep ploughing . Succession . Colonisation . Grassland . Rabbits Introduction Many dune areas in the UK and in North-West Europe are currently over-stabilised and show low levels of natural mobility (Rhind et al. 2007, Provoost et al. 2009). In an over-stabilised dune system, most of the dunes are covered by well-established grassland or scrub vegetation and areas of bare sand or pioneer vegetation are rare or absent. As a result the land-forms are static, no new features are being formed and existing dunes are not migrating. The situation at Newborough Warren, a large dune system in North Wales, where the amount of mobile and open dunes has declined from 75% in 1951 to less than 6% in 1991 (Rhind et al. 2001) is typical of dunes in much of England and Wales. The over-stabilisation may be a result of many, often M. L. M. Jones (*) Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Environment Centre Wales, Deiniol Road, Bangor LL57 2UW North Wales, UK e-mail: LJ@ceh.ac.uk K. Norman BHP Billiton, Field Study Centre, Unit 1, Station Road, Talacre, Flintshire CH8 9RD North Wales, UK P. M. Rhind Countryside Council for Wales, Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor LL57 2DW North Wales, UK J Coast Conserv (2010) 14:139–151 DOI 10.1007/s11852-009-0072-9