Data from: A connectivity threshold between grass patches amplifies coastal dune formation

Here, we report on our work that shows that dune-building grasses can form functional clusters of interacting patches that strongly amplify engineering capacity. By analyzing a decade of morphological development in an establishing coastal dune system, we discovered that dune height is primarily driven by the initial density of neighboring patches, rather than individual patch size. We identified an S-shaped relationship consistent with a spatial percolation threshold: increasing local patch density triggers an abrupt shift from isolated sand-trapping patches to functionally connected clusters that enhance dune growth.

Data:

This dataset includes the patch polygons derived from orthorectified aerial imagery (locations and geometries) and a Source Data file containing the data underlying all main-text figures (e.g., including patch elevation over time). Links to the publicly available aerial imagery used for patch delineation are provided below. All non-publicly available aerial imagery can be made available upon request, see for further info the Readme_Data.pdf.

Code:

Main code to is provided in a series of .R files, see for further info the Readme.pdf.

Links:

Aerial Imagery: www.beeldmateriaal.nl

Low resolution elevation data: www.nationaalgeoregister.nl

R, v2024.04.2