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Coastal Erosion control

In recent years, many coastal dunes in New Zealand have been
planted with grasses and sedges in an effort to stabilise dunes and
control coastal erosion. Describe the relationship between
vegetation, wind flow and sand transport on a coastal dune, and
discuss the effectiveness of dune planting as a technique for
controlling coastal erosion.
Vegetation, wind-flow and sand transportation are all inter-dependant in the
coastal dune environment. Air movement and not water movement form the
coastal dune, unlike most coastal features, and is therefore quite unique
(Pethick 1984). According to Pethick, the coastal dune is characterised by an
interaction between sand transport by the wind and vegetation
cover.(1984) Under both natural and human induced circumstances the
dune can become unstable, and this can lead to coastal erosion. The
plantation of vegetation such as Marram Grass can stabilise the dunes and
control coastal erosion (Viles and Spencer 1995). Throughout the world this
approach to dune stabilisation has been met with variable success, usually
depending upon the condition of the dune, and how widespread the coastal
erosion is.
Dune formation is a complex process, and is a good example of the
interaction between wind, sand and vegetation. Wind-flow over a sandy
surface such as a beach will experience friction with the sand, and therefore
the wind speed will decrease closer to the surface. On a flat beach, the
height of zero wind-speed is one-thirtieth of the grain diameter, with a
typical diameter of one millimetre; this distance is very small indeed (Pethick
1984). The wind applies a force to sand grains lying above the zero windspeed threshold, which can be increased either through an increase in the
velocity of the wind, or through an increase in the roughness of the surface
of the sand. A few loose grains of sand will be moved in this method, and will
travel by a method of saltation.
Sand is transported in three different ways: saltation, suspension and
surface-creep. Saltation is by far the most important of these methods, as
75% of sand is moved by saltation. Saltation in the process of sand grains
being flicked up by the wind and carried forward a certain distance, before
the grains return to the surface. A wind-speed of at least 5 metres per
second is required to life the sand grains off the surface, while a wind-speed
of at least 4.5 metres per second is required to keep the sand grains in the
air (Pethick 1984). As the sand grains return to the ground they impact into
the surface, this results in many more grains being flicked up into the air.
Wind-flow and sand combine to produce sand transportation, a vital
prerequisite for dune formation.

If an object is placed in the way of sand that is moving, then there is a

chance that the sand will be deposited. Sand is dispersed when there are
wind variations; this is because the object may create a lower wind-speed. If
the wind is sufficiently low (lower than 4.5 metres per second) then the sand
will not be lifted any more by the wind, and transportation will cease. Sand
will pile up on each side of the object, resulting in a ridge parallel to the wind
direction, and streamlined by the wind. This type of dune is called the
shadow dune, and will cease to exist if the obstacle cannot keep up with the
rate of deposition. If it does not, then the sand will bury the object, and a
smooth surface will occur again.
Vegetation is such an object that can keep up with the rate of deposition;
because it grows, vegetation can rise above the sand, and therefore
continue to exert its influence upon the sand grains. But there are few plants
that can survive the harsh environment on the upper slopes of the beach;
Disphyma australe, the New Zealand ice plant, is an example of such a plant
(Fisher et al. 1975). Therefore these embryo dunes resemble an
unconnected series of low mounds, sparsely covered in vegetation, and
about 1-2 metres in height. As the embryo dunes grow, they extent laterally
and catch more sand as well as growing in height. Once the dunes have
grown in height, the more traditional plants that are associated with coastal
dunes, such as Marram Grass and Spinifex are found (Pethick 1984). The
coverage of the dunes increases from intermitted plants, to a more complete
cover that is far more effective in catching the sand grains.
The increased vegetation cover introduces a very marked roughness to the
beach surface, without vegetation, the zone of zero wind-speed is from
0.002-1 centimetres in height. However, dense vegetation can increase this
zone up to 18 centimetres in height (Pethick 1984). Vegetation interacts with
the process of sand transportation to create this foredune; it does this by
intercepting descending grains partway through their process of saltation.
The leaves of the vegetation absorb much of the energy of the grains, as
well as providing an obstruction to the grains moving forwards as wind
transport is a thousand times less effective over a vegetated foredune than
it is over the beach (Van de Var et al. 1989). Some grains can still rise above
the zero wind-speed zone, but most will fail to do so and the dune will grow
in size. Deposition in the foredune system can vary from 0.3-1.0 metres per
year growth in their height (Pethick 1984). The foredune can therefor grow
from the 2.0 metres that it was as an embryo dune, up to a 10 metre high
ridge of dunes parallel to the coastline. Vegetation can also prevent the loss
of sand during storm conditions by preventing wind erosion of the dunes;
once again vegetation is interacting with the wind and sand to create and
maintain the coastal dune environment (Weedon 1999).
In New Zealand, coastal erosion is a problem that has been well publicised,
especially in the Omaha region north of Auckland. This is due to natural
erosion being encouraged by a high-energy wave climate that is caused by
prevailing westerly winds. Human impact on the coastline in New Zealand is
quite high, with a heavy concentration of New Zealanders living within thirty

kilometres of the coast due to the expansion of holiday communities in the

last forty years. A lack of dune protection has led to coastal erosion in many
of these cases because the dune provides a necessary buffer zone between
the coast and the sea. If the balance of the dune is upset then the security
of the entire coast is put into question as fixed coastal dunes can be seen
as a form of coastal defense (Viles and Spencer 1995).
The beach and the coastal dune are interdependent; therefor the
management of the beach must consider the foredune system. Damage to
the foredunes through trampling or direct removal of the sand can threaten
the balance of the coastal environment. In response to the problem various
plants, especially Marram Grass, have been used to facilitate a stabilisation
of the dunes (Viles and Spencer 1995). The plantation of dunes is meant to
help the dune grow larger, and be more effective in its role of protecting the
coast and is often used along with other methods of dune stabilisation such
as fences, walkways to prevent trampling, and direct addition of sand.
The success or failure of dune plantation is difficult to assess, and can be
variable according to the situation as well as other methods that are used to
stabilise the dunes, or the coastline as a whole. The placement of groynes or
boulders can also help replenish the sand on a beach to stabilise the coast,
but they can be ugly and decrease the aesthetic value of an area such as a
tourist resort. Plantation can aid this process by creating a dune ridge,
although the ridge may not behave naturally upsetting the sand budget of
the entire area.
Along areas of the Spanish coast such as Devasa del Saler, Valencia, dune
plantation has been very successful in preventing coastal erosion. The dunes
had been destroyed for a tourist resort between 1970 and 1973. Through
the regeneration of the dunes over 16 years as a result of dune plantation,
the coastline was stabilised. However this was in an area with a low energy
dissipative beach, with a tidal range of less than fifty centimetres and was
therefore the ideal situation for such a plantation; unfortunately the task is
less clear and a lot more difficult in other areas experiencing coastal erosion.
(Viles and Spencer 1995)
Dunes that have been damaged by localised, specific human impacts can be
restored if they are limited to a certain spatial scale. But if the area becomes
too large, or the wave energy is too high, there is generally little that dune
plantation can do to protect the coastline. This is especially the case in areas
where the coastal erosion is a natural process, and is only affecting people
because they happen to live near the eroding coastline; because there is no
imbalance in the system, it can be very difficult to address the problem.
Coasts that are characterised by long term instability are also very difficult
to manage (Viles and Spencer 1995).
Vegetation, wind flow and sand transport interact in a complex way to
create, and then maintain, the coastal dune system. At all stages of dune
building the interdependency of the three is clearly evident, and without any

of them coastal dunes would not occur. Sand dune plantation to protect the
coast from erosion has its merits in certain situations, however the
variability of the coastal environment invariably means that there is no
simple solution to the problem of coastal erosion.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Fisher, Muriel E., E. Satchell, Janet M. Watkins, Gardening with New Zealand
Plants, Trees and Shrubs, Auckland, 1975.
Pethick, J., An Introduction to Coastal Geomorphology, London, 1984.
Strahler, A. and Strahler A., Physical Geography Science and System of the
Human Environment, New York, 1997.
Van de Ven, T.A.M., D.W. Fryrear and W.N. Spaan, Vegetation characteristics
and soil loss by wind: Journal of Soil and water Conservation. vol. 44, 1989.
Viles, Heather and Tom Spence, Coastal Problems: Geomorphology, Ecology
and Society at the Coast, London, 1995.
Weedon, Anita Marie, The Interaction of Wind and Complex Dune Formation
at Muriwai Beach, Auckland, 1999.
Email: jarbury@yahoo.com