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Golf courses on dunes
Golf course on sand dunes (links courses) can have a major negative effect
on the dune and its vegetation. The construction of the course (greens, tees
and fairways) inevitably destroys the dunes themselves and with it the dune
vegetation and any associated animals. Some golf courses have helped to protect
dune vegetation from other uses, which are more damaging (Marshall
& Green 1984). However, examples of extensive high quality habitat
surviving within the confines of a golf course are rare. Of the 120 sand dune
Sites of Special Scientific Interest, only 3 of the 40 or so, which include
some golf course land within their boundaries, retain sufficient interest to
be considered to be of national important as examples of sand dune habitat (Ratcliffe
1977). Only in one of these (Sandwich Bay dunes in Kent) is the major
part of the golf course included within the boundary of the SSSI. The advent
of techniques in golf course management (including greater use of fertilisers
and herbicides) and the desire for a more manicured appearance and greater throughput
of golfers, threatens some of the more mature link courses where interesting
'roughs' still survive.
Nutrient inputs to greens and tees can cause damage to adjacent 'roughs' as
fertilisers are leached to these surrounding areas. A loss of quality results
as communities change from the more species-rich sand dune grassland types to
ranker mesotrophic grassland. Changes in hydrology resulting from irrigation
can also cause damage as the fixed dune grassland is again replaced by taller
mesotrophic grassland.
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Guidance: Avoiding some of the most damaging practices on golf
courses as outlined above is possible with more sympathetic management.
The presence of greens and tees especially can provide a barrier to more
dynamic forms of management. In this context misunderstanding the geomorphological
context within which the dune links courses exist, can lead to inappropriate
remedial measures to combat erosion (see Troon,
western Scotland). This may be of particular importance in areas where
sea level is rising and 'protecting the golf course at all cost may not
be possible (see the case of Brancaster
on the North Norfolk coast).
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References
Marshall, I.C. & Green, B.H.
1984.
An appraisal of semi-natural ecosystems on golf courses in Kent.
Occaisional Papers, 12
Department of Environmental Science & Countryside, Wye College, University of London.
Ratcliffe, D.A.
1977.
A Nature Conservation Review: the Selection of Sites of Biological National Importance to Nature Conservation in Britain. 2 Volumes. Cambridge University Press.
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