TIMBALIER ISLAND 



3m 



Spartlna patens 



Avicennia germinans 



Andropogon scoparlus 



Sporobolus virglnicus 



Flmbrlstylis spadlcea 



Strophostyles helvola 



Solldago sempervirens 



Paspalum vaglnatum 



Eustoma exaltatum 



Sabatia stellaris 



GULF 



BERM BEACH 



DUNES 



SWALE 



30m 



■■■■ 



Figure 4. Vegetational distribution-dune profile on Timbalier Island. 



VEGETATION FOR DUNE STABILIZATION IN LOUISIANA 



Although approximately 462 species of plants inhabit Louisiana's barrier islands and 

 beaches (Montz 1981), only a small percentage of these are suitable for dune building and 

 stabilization. Plants suitable for dune stabilization must of course, be able to grow and 

 procreate where dunes are naturally located, in the path of blowing sand parallel to the 

 high tide line of the backshore. To grow well in this environment along the shoreline of 

 the Gulf of Mexico, a plant must be able to tolerate sand burial, sand impingement, salt 

 spray, saltwater flooding, drought, heat, and low nutrient supply. In addition, these 

 plants must be able to trap and hold sand against wind and wave erosion. The following 

 plants which inhabit Louisiana's coastal dunes meet these requirements. 



Spartina patens , salt meadow hay (Figure 5), is a creeping rhizomatous plant (0.5 to 

 1.5 m tall) forming in small clusters or singly. This plant is distributed in North America 

 along the eastern coast from Quebec to Florida, Texas, and the eastern coast of Mexico 

 and is present in a few localities in Michigan and New York, on islands in the Caribbean, 



196 



