"For 20 years while living in Vilnius, my wife and I made it a tradition to visit Čepkeliai in April to listen for the cranes and observe the Eastern pasqueflower. It became a sort of reference point, that feeling, the signs marking the transition between seasons. A confirmation of spring."

In Lithuania, Eastern pasqueflowers are a rarity due to their high sensitivity. Their germination rate is low, with seeds remaining viable for only a few days. In habitats abundant with mosses and lichens, finding a suitable gap becomes a challenge. Changes in forestry practices like fire prevention and stopping cattle from grazing have caused dense moss or grass to grow, making it hard for to grow back, leading to its decline.

" — Come, I'll show you the white ones... ohhh what a shame!... There where a bunch of them... Only one left... Someone dug them up..."

It's interesting to observe how the Eastern pasqueflower has learned to live in sandy environments where sun exposure is intense and winds can be stronger. The flower is densely coated with grey hairs, which serve two purposes: they reflect sunlight to prevent leaf overheating, and create a protective barrier against the wind, reducing the moisture gradient between the leaf's interior and the atmosphere.

Fragment of one of the recently opened dunes in Dzūkija National Park

Opening dunes is like turning the time back. Whether this disturbance is okay depends on what happens next: how the landscape regenerates and the strategies employed for continual upkeep.

Anthropologist Ann Tsing says: "Disturbance is never a matter of “yes” or “no”; disturbance refers to an open-ended range of unsettling phenomena. Where is the line that marks off too much? With disturbance, this is always a problem of perspective, based, in turn, on ways of life."

In newly disturbed patches, the emergence of the Eastern pasqueflower is anticipated.

What is like to be Teesdale violet (Viola rupestris) in recently opened dunes? How will the Teesdale violet respond to further changes? By the way, it's interesting to observe how common brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) copes with the stronger winds prevalent in the dunescapes.

↓ Probably a grey hair-grass (Corynephorus canescens) — a tough pioneer in sandy areas, one of the first plants to grow in barren dunes.

↓ The continuous cover of mosses within communities creates a unique microclimate: water is distributed more evenly, temperature fluctuations are mitigated, decaying plant parts accumulate, humus layers form, and nutrients gather. These features are found within the interdunal hollows of continental dunes.

Rock-cress (Arabidopsis arenosa), one of the pioneer plants in sandy environments

When the pioneer species are gone, other psammophyte species (sand loving plants) begin to grow like Potentilla arenaria.

The rare spring sedge (Carex ericetorum) typically thrives in sandy soils beneath dry pine woods, but now faces the challenge of adapting to an open dune environment.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — said Charles Darwin. What might this habitat look like in a few decades? What relationships might emerge? Might we witness an increase in Eastern pasqueflowers?