The Time Factor in the Development of Dune Soils at South Haven Peninsula, Dorset

The dune system of the South Haven Peninsula is one of which the topographical development is well documented historically (Diver 1933). Furthermore, the principal dune ridges are, in the main, well defined, and the principal trends of edaphic and floristic development which they display are clear. It is possible, therefore, to fit a time scale with some confidence to these developmental changes and thus to present a picture of dune soil development in relation to time which is complementary to (though in some respects in marked contrast with) the findings of Salisbury (1922, 1925) and Pearsall (1934) in their studies of other dune systems. It is not proposed here to consider the vegetation of the area generally, of which an account has been given by Good (1935) but to refer to the development of the dune soils and the broad, long-term changes in the plant cover of the dune ridges which may be correlated with the changes in the soils. Some account of the principal topographical changes which have taken place in the area since Diver's work is also given.