BUILDING 

 ABETTER 

 SAND DUNE 



By Jeannie Faris N orris 



Signs of last year's storms are 

 still with us. 



The hurricane season ended in a 

 September tumult as Fran splintered 

 homes, washed away docks and 

 downed trees far inland from its Cape 

 Fear landfall. Amid the ruin, it was 

 easy to overlook damage to the coast's 

 natural architecture, but the wreckage 

 was no less complete. 



Dunes were leveled into fairways 

 of sand, stripped of their height and 

 vegetation. The property and maritime 

 plants behind them were left vulner- 

 able to the destructive power of wind 

 and waves. 



Restoring the coast's flattened 

 profile — its ruined dunes — will 

 take some finesse. But research by a 

 Florida Sea Grant scientist may 

 eventually help repair damage from 

 storms and the more gradual corrosive 

 powers of shoreline development. 



Michael Kane, an associate 

 professor in the University of 

 Florida's Environmental Horticulture 

 Department, is examining sea oats 

 (Uniola panieulata) in an effort to 

 build a better sand dune. Specifically, 

 he studies the genetic code of sea oats, 

 cloned in a lab and grown in the field, 

 to identify those plants best suited to 

 stabilize sand dunes on Florida's 

 Atlantic and Gulf coasts. 



His findings may one day help 

 North Carolinians restore their own 

 shoreline stalwarts. 



Sea oats grow on the United 

 States' southeastern beaches, where 

 they anchor the naturally shifting 

 dunes. Their leaves trap wind-borne 

 sand, and their roots hold the grains in 

 place. Toughened by harsh coastal 

 elements, these plants can tolerate 

 frequent doses of saltwater spray and 

 even brief inundation. 



Kane's research into the heredi- 

 tary hardiness of sea oats begins by 

 studying their genetic makeup using a 

 high-technology technique called 

 DNA "fingerprinting." Like a human 

 fingerprint, the DNA of each sea oat is 

 unique. This process allows Kane to 

 actually see a plant's genetic code and 

 compare it to neighboring plants and 

 to others hundreds of miles away. 



The differences are summed up as 

 "genetic diversity." 



"When I say genetic diversity, I 

 mean plants that are genetically 

 different, which equates to different 

 characteristics," Kane says. "A plant 

 may be susceptible to certain diseases 

 or have different growth rates. For 

 example, if a plant grows slowly, it 

 would be unsuitable where sand 

 accumulates rapidly." 



A plant community's microenvi- 

 ronment — the area where it grows — 

 influences how its members develop. 

 Certain characteristics allow these 

 plants to thrive in one environment, 

 but perhaps not another. 



"Plants may have evolved to grow 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 1 1 



