Beaches and Shores, Part 5
Environments
Common environments found in Virginia's coastal areas are: marshes, bluffs, beaches, and barrier islands.
Marshes
• Marshes form in well-protected areas that tides cover with water some of the time. Marshes generally do not form where waves occur.
This is a small fringe marsh. Note the absence of wave activity. (Phtotograph courtesy of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science)
• The healthiest marshes appear to form in areas with slowly to moderately rising sea level.
• Marsh vegetation depends on water salinity. The types of plants present in a tidal saltwater marsh will be very different from the types found in a tidal freshwater marsh.
Marsh vegetation depends on salinity and the amount of time per year that the marsh is under water. Left photograph is a marsh with cypress knees. The right photograph shows a tidal marsh on the Eastern Shore that is dominated by grasses. (Left photograph by Dave Hubbard; right photograph by Stan Johnson)
• Vegetation also depends on the amount of time during the year that an area is covered with water.