Barrier Island Plant and Soil Properties on Hog and Metompkin Islands, Virginia, 2021-2022

Dune building has the potential to impact the entire barrier island ecosystem, and these grasses therefore serve as ecosystem engineers. Protection offered by dune ridges directly impacts the adjacent swale habitat, modifying both biotic and abiotic factors. In order to better understand how dune building impacts the island ecosystem as a whole, we quantified sediment accretion, plant percent cover, stem numbers, and soil characteristics (chlorides, bulk density, %OM, %C, %N). These characteristics were assessed on two islands with varied disturbance intensities. Hog island is infrequently disturbed, and resists change driven by storms and overwash. Metompkin island is frequently disturbed and undergoes high rates of overwash and island migration.