Efforts to Eradicate Beach Vitex Start Again in Fall 2024
By Riley Westman, 2024 Fall Intern
Fall interns Riley and Sarah cut a “runner” from a central beach vitex plant (right).
Starting the last week of September and continuing through the end of the year, the Conservancy is once again trekking through the dunes in their annual effort to manage beach vitex. Beach vitex is an invasive plant species that was purposely brought to the United States from Japan and China to manage erosion of sand dunes. The problem is, beach vitex actually does a horrible job of preventing erosion. Unlike many deep-rooted native dune plants found on Bald Head Island, such as sea oats and beachgrass (up to 40 feet for sea oats!), beach vitex has very shallow roots that don’t hold sand in place. Vitex plants send out “runners” (their vine-like stems) from a central plant, which only grow about 1-2 inches down into the soil. Beach vitex is also a bully; its runners crowd out existing plants and release chemical compounds into the soil that kill nearby plants and prevent anything else from growing in its place.
Technician Joel and intern Natalie dispose of beach vitex in our personal dumpster.
This year, we are trying out a new treatment method in an effort to finally eradicate vitex from the island. In years past, the Conservancy would simply treat the stems of plants with Imazapyr, an EPA-regulated herbicide. Now, we are pulling up the runners of the vitex plants, cutting them off at the stump, and treating the stumps with Imazapyr. Previous experiments conducted by the Conservancy have shown that this is the most effective way to rid dunes of vitex, and more importantly, prevent it from coming back. All the plant material we pull up gets disposed of in a special dumpster at the island’s recycling center, and it will be landfilled off-island where it can’t sprout again. We are making steady progress towards filling up our first dumpster with the hope that many more will follow.
An area of dune after all the vitex was removed. Notice how sparse the other vegetation is where the vitex was growing.
The Conservancy has been contracted by the Village of Bald Head Island to carry out these vitex eradication efforts, as the health of our dune ecosystems is a priority for the island’s residents. Healthy dunes provide habitat for nesting sea turtles and shorebirds, and protect houses and roads from storm surges (like we saw recently with Potential Tropical Cyclone 8). Over the next few months, you may observe groups of individuals in BHIC staff shirts walking through the dunes (we have special permission to do so—please don’t try to replicate our efforts!) and pulling up plants. Rest assured that we are only going after vitex, and our herbicide treatment is very targeted, so the other plant species on the dunes will not be impacted. We are hopeful that this is the year we finally cleanse the island of this loathsome plant and take back our dunes!
