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Restoring
Grassbeds – is it for the Birds?
Dauphin Island Sea Lab Scientists Seek to Restore Robinson Island
Grassbeds by Utilizing Sea Birds’ “Natural Functions”
April 10, 2006
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Media Contact: Lisa Young
251/861-7509
Although most people consider bird droppings a nuisance, scientists at
the Dauphin Island Sea Lab see them as a rich source of phosphorus, a
natural fertilizer for grassbeds which have been destroyed by boat
propellers. Over the next couple of months, Sea Lab scientists Dr. Ken
Heck and Dr. John Dindo will be setting out bird stakes in an effort to
revive scarred grassbeds around the popular recreational spot of
Robinson Island in Orange Beach, Alabama.
Robinson Island is a favored spot in the summer, with constant boat
traffic in its shallow waters. Its underwater shoal grassbeds, however,
have been much impacted by propeller damage; and much of the terrestrial
vegetation on the island itself was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Drs. Heck and Dindo received a grant from the Gulf of Mexico Program to
restore both the dune habitation and the prop-scarred grassbeds of this
popular location.
Dune restoration will begin on Tuesday, April 11, from 10am to 1pm as
Dr. Dindo and volunteers from AmeriCorps plant 1,000 sea oats on the
beaches of Robinson Island.
Over the next two months, Drs. Heck and Dindo will also plant birdstakes
in the damaged grassbeds, hoping to attract seabirds to use the stakes
as a resting area where they can “do their business” and fertilize the
shoal grass beneath them.
“Birdstakes have proven successful in the Florida Keys,” comments Dr.
Heck. “We’re placing signs in marinas and along the grassbed borders
warning boaters against using their motors in the seagrasses. We’ll
also monitor the effects the bird droppings are having in the propeller
scars in the shoalgrass beds.
‘We hope a combination of educational signage, replanting sea oats, and
a seemingly endless supply of fertilizer will bring the habitats around
Robinson Island back to their peak condition,” he concluded.
This collaborative project includes the support of: City of Orange
Beach; Alabama Department of Conservation and National Resources; the
Gulf of Mexico Foundation; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration; and the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program |
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