About Sea Oats 



Sea oats are important to 

 beaches because they help trap 

 wind-blown sand and stabilize 

 dunes for other plants to colonize. 

 They are considered a pioneer 

 species, which usually colonizes 

 an area first, modifies the environ- 

 ment and then is succeeded by 

 other species. 



They get their name from the 

 large plumes they produce in the 

 summer. These plumes resemble 

 those of oats. 



The seeds on the plumes are 

 dispersed primarily by the wind. 



• Ecological Functions 



Sea oats stabilize sand and 

 provide a source of food and cover 

 for birds and small mammals. 



• Distribution 



Sea oats live on coastal dunes 

 from Virginia to Florida and Gulf 

 states. 



They are adapted to well- 

 drained, sandy and calcareous soils. 



Their resistance to erosion is 

 good once they're established. Sea 

 oats withstand wind erosion well, 

 but waves wash the soil out from 

 under them. 



Their potential growth rate 

 depends on environmental condi- 

 tions and maintenance. The plants 

 can grow laterally several feet per 

 year. Once established, sea oats 

 can provide dense cover in three 

 growing seasons. They will flower 

 in the second or third year. 



• Maintenance 



When planted, they should be 

 watered if necessary for the first 

 few months, depending on rainfall. 



They should get 1 teaspoon 

 per plant of a balanced, time release 

 fertilizer when planted. 



Exotic plants should be 

 removed. 



After sea oats have established, 

 they should be clipped to produce 

 more sprouts. □ 



Making a Case for North Carolina Sea Oats 



For all of their 

 sand-accumulating 

 assets, sea oats are 

 not used much to 

 restore North 

 Carolina dunes. 

 These seaside sentries 

 have fallen out of 

 favor as planting 

 materials because 

 they're difficult to 

 get in quantity and, 

 consequently, they're expensive. 



Most of the sea oats used to repair 

 dunes locally are ordered from Florida 

 nurseries, where they are grown out from 

 seeds in greenhouses, says David Nash, 

 an agricultural extension agent in 

 Brunswick County. But Nash wants to 

 bring sea oat production in-state by 

 identifying a vigorous North Carolina 

 strain of Uniola paniculata and finding a 

 way to grow it commercially. 



"I think there is going to be a real 

 need for sea oats in North Carolina," he 

 says. "And if sea oats become more 

 widely planted here, people will begin 

 asking for an indigenous strain." 



Nash is building his doctoral thesis 

 on this research, choosing the strongest 

 North Carolina sea oats and planting 

 them for observation along the state's 

 southern shores. He's also studying 

 Florida sea oats, planted alongside the 

 native varieties, and comparing them for 

 cold tolerance, among other traits. 



"For years, plants have been 

 selected on characteristics that are 

 desirable," Nash says. "What we'll be 

 looking at this year will be plants that 

 produce a desirable trait. That could be 

 seed production or rate of growth. And 

 we'll take seeds from those plants, 

 reproduce them, put the plants out and 

 see what they do." 



Most dune work in North Carolina 

 is done now with American beachgrass, 

 which can be grown in a field alongside 

 soybeans and corn. One American 

 beachgrass "mother" plant can produce 

 30 to 40 plants for sale, and a $50 



Florida researchers want to limit 

 foot traffic across their planting sites. 



investment will buy 

 1,000 of them. By 

 contrast, sea oats cost 

 60 cents per plant, or 

 $600 for 1,000, 

 because of their more 

 labor-intensive 

 upbringing. 



Several varieties 

 of American 

 beachgrass do well in 

 North Carolina, and 

 it's a good plant for the money and its 

 dune-anchoring abilities. But the species 

 is at the southernmost extent of its range, 

 making it more susceptible to disease and 

 die-off after four to five years, says 

 Stephen Broome, a professor of soil 

 science at North Carolina State Univer- 

 sity. 



Mixing sea oats with American 

 beachgrass and other dune vegetation is a 

 good idea ecologically because a diversity 

 of plants is better able to stabilize a dune 

 than a single species. And sea oats are a 

 hardier plant. 



"The advantages of sea oats are that 

 they're more persistent and they don't 

 have the disease problems," Broome says. 



Left on their own without plantings, 

 damaged sand dunes do mend and rebuild 

 themselves. 



"We just manipulate the natural 

 tendency to do that," Nash says. "Where 

 there is native vegetation, a dune will start 

 building. With more vegetation or 

 barriers, you're creating an opportunity 

 for a dune to build. Vegetation will begin 

 to grow naturally, but it will take a lot 

 longer." 



The payoffs of a healthy dune system 

 are evident in the aftermath of storms. The 

 oceanfront homes that fared best in last 

 year's hurricanes typically had intact 

 dunes protecting them from the surge, 

 Nash says. 



"After a storm goes through, it 

 becomes obvious," he says. "Vegetation 

 might be a temporary barrier in a storm, 

 but it might also be the barrier that saves 

 your house." □ 



14 MAY/JUNE 1997 



