American beachgrass Ammophila breviligulata is an important sand stabilizing and sand dune creating grass on the North American Atlantic coast and along the shore lines of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. This symposium brings together ecologist's, geneticist's, systematist's and physiologist's to take an interdisciplinary view of research in progress and research that is needed to balance the sometime conflicting management goals of increasing erosion control, increasing available germplasm for restoration and preservation of natural populations.

Key words: Ammophila breviligulata