barrens

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But when wasting disease in effect wiped out their main predator, the sea urchins exploded in number, decimating kelp forests and transforming once-lush underwater habitats into so-called urchin barrens.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 4, 2025

Smith and co-authors examined changes in species composition across the mosaic of barrens and persistent forests to untangle how kelp loss impacts the broader ecosystem.

From Science Daily • Feb. 6, 2024

Some residents said the scale of the proposal is so large that it would forever change a rural region known for its rocky coast, woodlands and blueberry barrens.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 29, 2023

Narrow but well-worn paths weave through a landscape of heath and coastal barrens, a colorful carpet of wildflowers and evergreens made into dwarf-like shrubs by constant exposure to salt spray and wind.

From Washington Post • Aug. 13, 2022

Rather than the thick, unbroken, monumental snarl of trees imagined by Thoreau, the great eastern forest was an ecological kaleidoscope of garden plots, blackberry rambles, pine barrens, and spacious groves of chestnut, hickory, and oak.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann