Earlier this year we were reminded of how fragile our beautiful coastline is. Hurricane Sally visited and definitely overstayed her welcome with hours of hurricane-force winds and torrential rain battering our beaches, homes and businesses. Do you know what is the greatest natural protection we have from storms? The sea oats and other vegetation that help hold our dunes together.
The stately sea oats can create a root system as much as 10 times the size of the rest of the plant. All of those roots hold on to sand. As sea oats grow larger, they trap more sand. When the sand builds up, the plants grow even larger. The process continues, the complex dune system stabilizes, and more plants grow and attract more organisms. Thanks to this beautiful species of grass, an ecosystem is built from sand.
In spite of such a huge responsibility, sea oats are surprisingly fragile. A human step can damage the shallow roots that snake through the dunes. Foot traffic damages the roots and kills the vegetation. This creates a path of least resistance for wind that quickly erodes the dunes.
As you head to the beach for a day of fun, be sure to use boardwalks and beach walkovers when possible. Staying off the dunes keeps our vegetation healthy and provides our communities protection from storms.