Tybee Island is home to Georgia’s most visited beach, but it has increasingly felt the effects of climate change and sea level rise. For years, Tybee has nourished its beaches with dredged sand, and in 2020 Tybee constructed an entirely new dune system. With funding from the Georgia DNR and in partnership with Tybee Island, we are conducting a study both to monitor the success of these new dunes and to determine best practices in coastal dune restoration. The new dune was planted with native dune vegetation, and we implemented experimental treatments to assess the effects of plating density and community assemblage on dune movement (erosion/accretion). We are collecting data on plant growth in order to determine correlations with dune movement, and we plan to create a monitoring protocol documenting the most important measurements to take when determining the success of a dune restoration. These protocols will be of use to volunteers on Tybee for this project, as well as to coastal managers along the Southeastern Atlantic Coast. Additionally, this research will provide insight into the best planting practices to build a sustainable dune. We will learn which plants and in which densities most successfully trap sand to continue building dunes, and what planting options are most cost effective. 

In the News

Faces of Resilience: Restoring Dunes to Protect Coastal Communities
UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant video series - features Dr. Lissa Leege discussing the ecological value of dune restoration. Released in May 2022
Watch the video

Researcher From Georgia Southern University Studies Coastal Dune Plantings
July 5, 2021
Read the article (Georgia Public Broadcasting- GPB)

Georgia Southern Grad Student Researches Different Planting Treatment Effects on Tybee Island Sand Dune
June 14, 2021 Read the article (Savannah CEO)

Georgia Southern biologists conducting plant ecology study on Tybee’s dunes
June 10, 2021
Watch the video & read the article (WTOC)

Georgia Southern grad student researches different planting treatment effects on Tybee Island sand dunes
June 9, 2021
Read the article (Georgia Southern Newsroom)

Georgia Southern grad student researching different planting treatment effects on Tybee Island sand dunes
June 9, 2021
Read the article (About Your Online Magazine)

Funding: City of Tybee Contract (2022-2023), Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division Coastal Incentive Grant (subaward through the City of Tybee Island; 2020-2022), University of Georgia Marine Extension and Sea Grant Research Traineeship (2021), Georgia Southern College of Science and Mathematics Academic Excellence (2020), Georgia Southern Institute for Coastal Plain Science Summer Research Assistantship (2020), Georgia Southern Office of Research Undergraduate Summer Funding (2020)

Students who have worked on this project

Graduate Students:
Travis Williams (2021-2023)
Shannon Matzke (2019-2021) 

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Project: Alexandra Findlay (2021- 2022) 

Undergraduates: Maxine Hauser, volunteers from BIOL3535 Botany class, HONS 1133 Honors Inquiry in the Natural Sciences class, BIOL 5546 Plant Ecology class

Presentations

April 2022. Tybee City Council Update.

March 2021. “What’s a Town to Dune: Can Vegetation be Used to Determine the Success of a Constructed Coastal Sand Dune?" Shannon Matzke and Lissa Leege. Oral Presentation, 82nd Annual Meeting  of the Association of Southeastern Biologists (virtual).

January 2021. Tybee Island Beach Task Force Meeting. Best Practices in Dune Restoration: Vegetation Research and Monitoring. (virtual)

October 2020. "Mitigating Climate Threats to Coastal Dunes: Can Plant Community Composition Determine the Success of a Restoration?" Matzke, S.  and Leege, LM. Poster presentation, American Shore and Beach Preservation Association Annual Meeting (virtual). 

Publications

Findlay, Alexandra O., "In the Face of Climate Change, Does Human Trampling Affect Dune Resilience and Alter Ecosystem Services?" (2022). Honors College Theses. 737.

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honors-theses/737

Matzke, Shannon, "Measuring the Success of a Coastal Sand Dune Restoration on Tybee Island: Plant Growth, Sand Accretion, and Implications for Management" (2021). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2326.

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/2326

Matzke, S. 2021. What’s a town to dune? How Tybee Island is using native plants to stabilize sand dunes. Student blog post, Georgia Sea Grant Graduate Research Trainee, February 23, 2001.