(64,000 ha or 158,000 ac) , and South Carolina (176,000 ha or 435,000 ac)(West 

 1977). 



Barrier islands are also very important coastal habitat in these three 

 states. The land areas of the barrier islands for each state are 120,000 ac 

 (48,000 ha) in North Carolina, 124,000 ac (50,200 ha) in South Carolina, and 

 153,000 ac (62,000 ha) in Georgia (Warner 1976), for a total of about 397,000 

 ac (160,000 ha). The area of water behind these islands becomes smaller to the 

 south (Warinner et al . 1976). These three states (North Carolina, South Caro- 

 lina, and Georgia) respectively have about 266 mi (428 km), 199 mi (320 km), 

 and 98 mi (158 km) of open beach along their barrier islands. In other parts 

 of the study area (e.g., parts of the Florida Gulf coast), beaches are few or 

 nonexistent (Woolfenden and Schreiber 1973). 



The east coast of Florida is dominated by a chain of barrier islands oc- 

 casionally broken by tidal passes. Typically, these islands are sandy along 

 their outer perimeters. Large areas of marsh and estuarine swamp lie landward 

 of these islands (Warinner et al. 1976) and salt marshes gradually give way to 

 mangrove swamp (Reimold 1977). Much of the Gulf coast of Florida is dominated 

 by salt marshes and mangrove swamps (Wariner et al. 1976). Open beach is ex- 

 tensive from Naples on the Florida peninsula north along the panhandle to Ala- 

 bama (Woolfenden and Schreiber 1973). In Alabama, tidal salt marsh, sandy 

 beaches, and offshore islands are common coastal landforms. Mississippi's Gulf 

 coast consists almost entirely of barrier Islands that have salt marshes in 

 their centers. The shoreline of Mississippi is extensively developed but still 

 contains fresh, salt, and brackish marshes (Warinner et al. 1976). Only a lim- 

 ited amount of salt marsh is found between northern Florida and Mississippi. 

 Most marshes are small, disjunct, and in alluvial pockets protected by bay 

 shores (West 1977) . 



Louisiana has more marsh and estuarine area than any of the other United 

 States except Alaska (Warinner et al. 1976) and contains nearly half the total 

 acreage of salt marsh in the contiguous United States. In some places the 

 marshes extend inland as much as 40-50 km (25-30 mi)(West 1977). The coastline 

 along the western third of the state is sandy, but the rest of the area is dom- 

 inated by barrier islands and marsh that are strongly influenced by the enor- 

 mous amounts of mud and silt deposited by the Mississippi River (Warinner et 

 al . 1976). The Louisiana coast Is one of the most productive areas for marine 

 birds in the continental United States and supports enormous wintering popula- 

 tions of waterfowl. 



The coast of Texas makes up a large portion of the western shore of the 

 Gulf of Mexico. Sandy beaches and offshore barrier islands are abundant. Two 

 semi-landlocked lagoons, the Upper and Lower Laguna Madre, and a large low- 

 salinity estuary, Sabine Lake, are areas of great importance to wintering water- 

 fowl. An estimated 78% of the world's population of Redhead ducks winters in 

 the Laguna Madre, and 13% of the world's shrimp harvest comes from Texas waters 

 (Warinner et al. 1976). A limited amount of salt marsh is present in Texas 

 along bay shores enclosed by offshore bars (West 1977). 



