Human impact on beach and foredune microclimate on North Padre Island,Texas

The microclimate of beach and foredune areas of North Padre Island along the mid-Texas coast was found to be greatly modified by vehicular and pedestrian traffic during investigations made from late fall to early summer 1973–74. The primary effect of human activity on microclimate was expressed as reduced cover and species diversity of the vegetation. As the intensity of human activity increased, elevation, especially of areas near the beach, was decreased, whereas average wind velocities near the ground surface, evaporation, atmospheric salinity near the ground surface, wind-carried sand particles near the ground surface, soil salinity, soil pH, average soil temperature and range in temperature, soil bulk density, and soil-water contents were increased.