A field of tall sea oat grasses above the dune line. Sea Oats area native perennial grass found in all coastal Florida and a favorite nesting site for loggerhead sea turtles.
Photos by Maria Lamb
Keep Off the Dunes.Sea Oats are protected by Florida Statute 370.041,and it is illegal to remove them. Use designated dune walkovers or pathways.
Sea Oats (Uniolapaniculate) arenative perennial grasses found in all Florida coastal counties, according to the Florida Wildlife Federation. Typically, they grow from the high tide mark inland and are very important in building up the dunes.
This time of the year, as you walk towards Sand Dollar Island on theGulfside of South Seas Towers, you will noticea very picturesque fieldofsea oatgrass looking golden yellow risingjust above the dunes. Theylookso delicate yet, hard at work to provide stability to the sand. Their narrow leavesblowin the windandspreadtheir seed heads. According to UF/IFAS,“sea oatshave root systems up to 40 feet deep and help anchor the dunes and help stabilize beaches.The plant is extremely drought and salt tolerantand is a protected plant in Florida.”
According to FWC, removing them is illegal and they recommend that you stay off the dunes,insteadusingdesignated dune walkoversor pathways.
Sea Turtles dig the dunes! On Marco we have quite a few sea turtle nests nestled among the tall sea oats.According to sea turtle experts, sea turtles seem to seek out the safety of the dunes while looking for nesting areas on the beach. And there is another healthy relationship between sea turtles and dunes. While the dunes provide cover for the sea turtle nests, not all those eggs will hatch and not all the hatchlings will make it out of the nest.The unhatched materials left behind provide excellent nutrients for the dune plants to use to grow bigger with deeper roots.
Keywords
uniola paniculata,
dune,
physical geography,
botany,
plants,
earth sciences,
archaeplastida,
kingdoms (biology),
coastal geography,
landscape,
ecology,
physical oceanography,
beach,
organisms,
geomorphology,
coastal and oceanic landforms,
florida,
plants and humans,
institute of food and agricultural sciences,
natural environment,
biogeography,
oceanography,
environmental conservation,
sea,
root,
hydrology,
grasses,
holarctic flora,
plant agriculture,
poaceae,
hydrography,
sand,
gardening,
horticulture,
perennial,
ecoregions,
geographical areas,
water,
plant life-forms,
wind,
flora,
agriculture,
ornamental plants,
conservation biology,
flora of northern america,
environmental science,
graminoids,
sediments,
poales,
systems ecology,
topography,
sedimentology,
nature,
morphology,
environmental engineering,
plant,
environments,
aeolian landforms,
oat,
leaf,
halophyte,
nearctic realm flora,
earth's crust,
biota of the united states,
applied and interdisciplinary physics,
nature conservation,
halophytes,
flora of the americas,
grasses of north america,
grasses of the united states,
uniola,
neotropical realm flora,
flora of the united states,
seed,
botanical taxa,
ornamental grass,
dunes,
aquatic ecology,
pantropical flora,
chloridoideae,
grasses of alabama,
natural resources,
habitats,
grasslands of the united states,
environment,
soil,
biology,
flora of florida,
drought,
branches of botany,
garden plants,
natural sciences,
liquid dielectrics,
salt,
agricultural land,
ecological restoration,
refrigerants,
environmental issues,
flora of the southeastern united states,
taxa named,
bodies of water,
environment of florida,
lubricants,
carl linnaeus,
biota of north america,
global natural environment,
erosion,
biota of florida,
plant morphology,
erosion landforms,
tide,
hydroxides,
transparent materials,
flora of the eastern united states,
biogeographic realms,
eastern united states,
civil engineering,
landscape architecture,
natural hazards,
biota,
southeastern united states,
trees,
beaches,
natural resource management,
oceans,
natural regions,
crops,
fisheries science,
panicle,
species,
global environmental issues,
environmental protection,
biomes,
flora of alabama,
geology,
sand dollar,
sustainable gardening,
grasses of mexico,
environment of the united states,
physiographic divisions,
eukaryote morphology,
human impact on the environment,
fluvial landforms,
phytogeography,
natural disasters,
lacustrine landforms,
flora of mexico,
terrestrial biomes,
water and the environment,
tourism geography,
flora of southern america,
meteorology,
aquatic biomes,
primary sector of the economy,
biota of the caribbean islands,
symbiosis,
weather events,
biota of mexico,
environment of north america,
disasters,
biota of south america,
tourist attractions,
biodiversity,
climate of the united states,
industries (economics),
community ecology,
landscape ecology,
natural events,
flora of the caribbean,
geography,
coastal engineering,
temperate grasslands,
savannas,
and shrublands,
sustainable development,
swedish taxonomists,
agronomy,
flora of northeastern mexico,
palearctic realm biota,
flora without expected tnc conservation status,
climate variability and change,
flora of europe,
climate,
geological processes,
storms,
edible plants,
natural materials
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here