TfflSLAND 



Chincoteague Refuge, Yirginia 



by Robert H. Mohlenbrock 



Paralleling the Atlantic Coast from 

 Long Island to Horida, a string of barrier 

 islands shelters the mainland from the rav- 

 ages of periodic storms. Composed of 

 sand brought up by wave action from the 

 gently sloping ocean floor, these wind- 

 swept islands are continuously being re- 

 shaped. One is slender Assateague Island, 

 which stretches thirty-five miles from 

 southern Maryland to Virginia. The main- 

 land areas it protects include salt marshes, 

 freshwater marshes, bays, ponds, creeks, 

 and inlets. These coastal wetlands, as well 

 as those on and along the island itself, are 

 important to wildhfe, especially the migra- 



tory birds that pass through in the fall and 

 spring. Along with a bit of adjacent Chin- 

 coteague Island, the entire Virginia portion 

 of Assateague Island is managed by the 

 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the 

 Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. 



A ridge of sand up to forty-seven feet 

 high edges the ocean side of the island. 

 Built up by the wind and the constant ebb 

 and flow of the tide, the ridge is too un- 

 stable to support the growth of many kinds 

 of plants. The principal one that grows 

 there is beach grass, able to anchor itself 

 by much-branched, deeply penetrating 

 rhizomes. Even the beach grass is often 



wiped out during violent storms, and the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service replants plugs of 

 grass to reestabhsh some cover as quickly 

 as possible. 



Just behind the sand ridge he a variety 

 of wetlands that attract shorebirds and wa- 

 terbirds. Gulls, egrets, herons, ospreys, 

 swans, glossy ibises — some 250 species in 

 all — can be observed from the refuge's 

 roads and trails. 



Some of the wetlands are salt marshes, 

 shallow places where there is an inflow of 

 seawater. The plants found in them are 

 adapted for survival in saltwater and are 

 not found in any other type of habitat. One 



DoriM? loops 



92 Natur,\l History 6/94 



