BARRIER ISLAND & DUNE ECOLOGY

Join CBFS staff on pristine Wallops Island home to NASA’s flight facility.  Students will learn about how barrier islands and dunes form, ecological succession, sediment deposition, and distribution of flora and fauna.  Make sure to bring a bag and collect some of the gorgeous shells that have washed ashore.
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Class Goals:

• Define what a barrier island is
• Use pictures to understand different barrier island formation processes
• Be able to make the connection between ecological succession and dune dynamics
• Explore a barrier island ecosystem to investigate common marine and beach organisms
• Model how humans impact barrier island systems using sand
• Understand how sea level rise is and continues to impact barrier islands
• Discuss select methods that scientists use for studying barrier island habitats