Barrier Island - Ecological Importance

Ecological Importance

Barrier islands play an enormous role in mitigating ocean swells and other storm events for the water systems behind on the mainland side of the barrier island. This effectively creates a unique environment of relatively low energy, brackish water. Multiple wetland systems such as lagoons, estuaries, and/or marshes can result from such conditions depending on the surroundings. Without barrier islands, these wetlands could not exist and would be destroyed by daily ocean waves and tides as well as ocean storm events. One of the most prominent examples is that of the Louisiana barrier islands.

Read more about this topic:  Barrier Island

Famous quotes containing the words ecological and/or importance:

    The question that will decide our destiny is not whether we shall expand into space. It is: shall we be one species or a million? A million species will not exhaust the ecological niches that are awaiting the arrival of intelligence.
    Freeman Dyson (b. 1923)

    There is much to be said in favour of modern journalism. By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community. By carefully chronicling the current events of contemporary life, it shows us of what very little importance such events really are. By invariably discussing the unnecessary, it makes us understand what things are requisite for culture, and what are not.
    Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)