Trampling, ORVs, and other human impacts

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Trampling, ORVs, and other human impacts
Doug Piatkowski and Brannon Quel
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• People have been using alternative methods of
  transportation to visit the beach for centuries.

• The advent of motor vehicles has proved to be no
  exception.
• Prior to the development of the Jeep in WWII,
  people used beach buggies to access previously
  distant location on the beach.

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• The beach buggies were usually beat-up, old cars.
• The tires were oversized, completely bald, and
  deflated to half the recommended tire pressure.
• If the car stopped working they were usually
  abandoned.

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• During the late 60s and early 70s there was a
  boom in off-road vehicle production.
• ORVs were now being marketed for recreational
  uses.
• The boom in ORV use drew the attention of the
  U.S. Department of the Interior during the Nixon
  Administration.
• A report to Nixon included the recommendation
  that Recreation use should be regulated to
  minimize conflicts with natural conditions and
  with other uses of public land.

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Executive Order 11644 (Feb 1972) Ensure use of
off-road vehicles on public lands will be
controlled and directed so as to protect the
resources of those landsand to minimize
conflicts among the various uses of those lands.
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• Our beaches attract millions of visitors and
  generate tremendous revenue annually.
• People bring their vehicles to the beach and many
  believe it is their right to drive on the beach.
• The beach and dune ecosystem is a fragile
  environment that cannot cope with the impacts
  from off-road vehicles.

Daytona Beach, Florida
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Vegetative Impacts of ORVs

• ORVs can directly and indirectly impact dune
  plant species.
• When ORVs drive directly over the plants, they
  crush the stems and can expose the roots.
• When the roots are exposed to the sunlight and
  high temperatures it can kill the plant.
• This reduces species abundance and diversity

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• When the plants have been removed it increases
  the susceptibility of blowouts.
• Blowouts, in turn, can increase the frequency of
  overwash from storms and spring tides.
• According to Dr. Paul Hosier, Its like the
  dutchboy taking his finger out the dike
  (Coastwatch 1980).

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Blowout
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Impacts on Dune Systems

• When ORVs are driven on the dune, the sand moves
  downslope, flattening the dune rapidly.
• Driving at the toe of the dune will destroy the
  strand line, which is the growing point of
  embryonic dunes.
• It takes a matter of days to destroy a dune and
  years to build it back.

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Driving an ORV on the beach homogenizes the sand
and makes it hard to walk in.
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A look at Fort Fisher
Bald Head Island, no vehicular traffic
Ft. Fisher, beach is open year-round to ORV
traffic.
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Colonial waterbird nesting area closed to ORV
traffic
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Impacts of ORVs on Sea Turtles

• Many beaches are closed to ORV traffic during the
  sea turtle nesting and hatching season (May
  November).
• The beaches that remain open pose several threats
  to nesting females and their hatchlings.

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Sea Turtles Cont.

• ORVs on the beach during the nesting season can
  increase the frequency of turtle false crawls (ie
  aborted nesting attempts).
• The lights from the ORVs are very bright and may
  frighten the turtle off.
• The false crawl to nest ratio of a beach can be
  an indicator of beach quality. Ft. Fisher State
  Park is open year round to ORV traffic and this
  past season had 4 nests to 38 false crawls
  whereas Bald Head Island had 51 nests and 68
  false crawls.

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• If a nest is not conspicuously marked, the ORV
  may run it over.
• During the hatching season the ORVs can easily
  run over the hatchlings.
• Since hatchlings exhibit phototropism, they can
  crawl towards the headlights of ORVs.
• The deep ruts from tire tracks can trap the
  hatchlings, making it difficult for them to crawl
  out.

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Path hatchlings take when tracks on are a beach
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Impacts on Shorebirds

• Many shorebirds nest in open areas of the sand
  (ie Terns, Plovers, Skimmers).
• ORVs can directly run over the nests or frighten
  the mothers away, leaving the eggs vulnerable.
• Once the chicks have hatched, one defensive
  instinct is to crouch in depressions. This can
  unfortunately be tire tracks from ORVs.
• This has led to some beach closings due to Piping
  Plover nests (a federally protected shorebird)

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Environmentally sensitive bird nesting area on
Ft. Fisher Closed from 1 April to 31 August
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General Beach Driving Regulations

• Drive on wet sand and observe 25-mph speed limit.
• Avoid wildlife and critical habitats.
• Dont drive on vegetative areas.
• Dont overload the vehicles.
• Dont Drink and Drive!!!! (ie Ft. Fisher)

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ORVs should be driven in the intertidal beach
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Use designated crossovers to access the beach
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Other Human Impacts
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Beach Renourishment
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Beach Renourishment
-From 1960 to 1990, the population of coastal
areas increased form 80 to 110 million and is
projected to reach over 160 million by
2015 -Money invested along coastline permanent
structures -Disruption of natural erosion and
accretion processes -Desire for beach
renourishment to protect private property -NC has
320 miles of shoreline 8 miles have
renourishment programs -Recent large scale
project to renourish Brunswick county beaches
provide sea turtle habitat
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Effects on Sea Turtle Nest
-Indirect effects -Temperature -Moisture
content -Compaction -Oxygen diffusion -Direct
effects -Burial of existing nests
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Effects on Nest Cavity Construction
-Increase in numbers of false crawls - Scarp
formation -false crawl -lay on scarp/collapse
-Inability to dig chamber -Abandoned egg
chambers -
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Dune Walkover
-In order to prevent trampling of
vegetation -Trampling of vegetation can lead to a
blowout
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Defensive Measures
Prickly pear cactus Opuntia stricta dillerii
Spanish bayonet Yucca aloifolia
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Dune Protection
-Posted signs -Literature -education
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References
Hosier, P. E., M. Kochhar and V. Thayer. 1981.
Off-road vehicle and pedestrian track effects on
the sea-approach of hatchling loggerhead turtles.
Environmental Conservation, 8(2)158-161. Hosier,
P. E. and T. E. Eaton. 1980. The impact of
vehicles on dune and grassland vegetation on a
southeastern North Carolina Barrier Beach. J.
App. Ecol. 17173-183. Hosier, P. E. 1980.
Recreational Off-road Vehicle Impacts in Coastal
North Carolina. Carolina Planning
6(2)34-40. Hosier, P.E. and T. Eaton. 1979.
Making Tracks A guide to off-road driving at the
coast. UNC Sea Grant Publication 79-06 Hoover,
B. 1973. Proc. Annual Meeting. Assoc. Midwest
Fish Game Conervation. 40 39-49. Caution ORVs
can be hazardous to a dunes health. Coastwatch.
May 1980 Stick, David. 1985. Bald Head A
history of Smith Island and Cape Fear.
Broadfoot Publishing Co. Wilmington,
NC. Benedict, M. A. 1978. The preparation of an
off-road recreational trail map of the province
lands, Cape Cod Procedures, Observations, and
Management Suggestions. National Park Service
Cooperative Research Unit Report Number 27. Town
of Nags Head Regulations Governing Off Road
Vehicles 1979-1980. Badaracco, R.J. 1976. ORVs
Often Rough on Visitors. Parks Recreation.
September 1976. http//www.seashell.com/kbphotos.h
tm http//www.outerbanks.org/generalinfo.htm