People go to the beach for the waves or a long walk on the soft sand, but many times they don’t realize what makes the trip so pleasant.
Sea oats and other grass species help the sand dunes on Onslow Beach, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune stay sturdy which is why members from the Environmental Management Division and volunteers planted them along the shorelines of Onslow Beach on April 20.
The planting of sea oats and other grasses help keep the sand dunes on Onslow Beach stable to protect the infrastructure from the waves and provide a habitat for specific wildlife species.
“We were out here as part of an annual effort we have for planting sea oats to replenish the dunes along Onslow Beach,” said Emily Gaydos, wildlife biologist, wildlife resources program, MCB Camp Lejeune. “We’ve done this, from my understanding, for about 14 years now and this year we have decided to merge it with our Earth Day efforts. We’ve decided to get everybody out here to get these sea oats planted to replenish the dunes.”
Lack of vegetation on beach fronts leads to weak sand dunes that crumble under high winds or rough waters causing a great deal of harm to anything within the vicinity of the waves.
“We planted sea oats and another species of dune vegetation,” said Jessi Baker, National Environment Protection Agency manager, EMD. “These are native species that would normally grow to help stabilize the dune. It’s important to have stable dunes especially when we have a storm, hurricane or a Nor’easter that has a lot of erosive forces from the waves. We want to make sure that the dunes are stable so they can keep the ocean from washing them away and coming up and affecting the rest of the island and infrastructure.”
Sea oats are one of the main sources of vegetation EMD planted because they are able to assist in enlarging the dunes from the moment they are planted, even if they don’t survive.
“(It takes) several years in some cases for sea oat plants to get (more than a few feet) tall,” said Gaydos. “Although, they can already start catching sand particles from the initial planting into the ground.”
Keeping the sand dunes as large as possible not only helps keep Camp Lejeune safe, but also provides a habitat for nesting animals who depend on it.
“The dunes help provide a habitat for shorebirds and sea turtles that come here every year to nest,” said Gaydos. “That’s why we’re trying to keep these dunes as large as we possibly can.”
Onslow Beach’s sand dunes ensure the beach area stays fully intact so service members have a place to conduct beach operations.
“The dunes provide additional ways for military to train on the beach,” said Gaydos. “If we didn’t have the dunes to keep the beach, there wouldn’t be anywhere for military training to go on for beach operations.”
Knowing the role of the sand dunes and making sure nothing is done to risk the size or stability of them is important for anyone visiting the beach.
“It’s important to keep these dunes,” said Gaydos. “When visiting the beach, try to stay off the dunes because walking on the dunes, tearing up the vegetation and pulling the sand off the dunes is kind of counter- productive to the effort we’re putting in here today and that we do every year (to make sure the dunes are stable).”