Did you know picking or destroying sea oats along our coast is illegal? Walking on the sand dunes and picking sea oats is prohibited by a law enacted in 1973 by the Alabama legislature. This is because vegetation is essential to our coast’s ecosystem. Rooted throughout our sugar-white dunes, they do draw the eye. But as the adage goes: Look but don’t touch. Sea oats are not just some weed. They look like tall grass or stalks of wheat, and [...]
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 [...]
Those plants with the large plumes you see along the beach may look like weeds, but they are a vital part of the ecosystem. Sea oats play an important role in coastal conservation. That’s why signs are posted along the beach asking you to avoid areas where there is plant vegetation or a dunes restoration project. Sea oats are actually a miraculous little production plant, and there’s a whole lot more going on than those plumes you see on the [...]
