Site Number/Name: Virginia Coast Reserve (VCR)

 

GFL No.:484 (updated)          

            Name: Virginia Coastal Reserve - Hog Island

Near Oyster, VA (LTER Site #21, 2 of 2)      

State, Country: VA, USA        

 

Priority:                                   1

 

 

 

Site designation(s):                 LTER

 

 

 

Other sponsoring/interested agencies, if any: 

 

                                                The Nature Conservancy

                                                USGS/BRD

 

Location and size:

The VCR/LTER conducts research at several different spatial scales (Figure 1).  A the large scale, our "megasite" extends from Assateague Island in the north to Fisherman's Island at the tip of Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.  Within that we have three major research areas in a box transect from Hog Island to the mainland marshes near Nassawadox, VA.  In addition, we have research projects which use Parramore Island, Ship Shoal Island, and Myrtle Island and have planned activities on Mockhorn Island, Cobb Island,  and Smith Island.  We have listed full coordinates for the VCR/LTER, Hog Island Chronosequence Site.

 

Approximate boundaries:

 

 

Resource to be monitored: Landscape change

 

Detailed description, management issues (e.g. ecosystem represented): The Barrier Island/Lagoon Complex of the VCR/LTER is subject to rapid storm-induced changes, as well as slower successional changes.  These changes affect organisms and physical processes at a variety of scales.  Remote sensing on the VCR megasite provides data on large-scale changes in island morphology and in land cover and provides the larger context for less extensive organismal and physical  studies.

 

 

Hog Island Chronosequence Site

USGS Quads: Great Machipango, Cobb Island

                                                           

                        Center:            37 25 00N,  75 44 W

                            NE corner: 37 28 00N,  75 38 00W

                            SE corner: 37 21002N,  75 38 00W           

                           SW corner: 37 21 00N,  75 50 12W

                           NW corner: 37 28 00N,  75 50 12W

                                   

  Center elevation: 2 m

Size (N-S x E-W): N-S: 10 nm, E-W  10 nm 

 

 

Resource to be monitored:     The Hog Island Chronosequence site hosts a variety of studies focusing on vegetation and shoreline change, particularly the shrubs and marshes.  Data from aerial photographs at 1-2m resolution has been very helpful in plotting changes in shrubland vegetation over time.  See http://www.vcrlter.Virginia.EDU/lteriii/hog89prp.gif for a sample map. Chronosequence sites are located at the north end of the island for  upland vegetation and at the mid-to-southern end of the island for a marsh chronosequence.

 

 

Detailed description, management issues (e.g. ecosystem represented): The ecosystem representated is a barrier island and associated marshes.  The upland is dominated by bare ground, shrublands and grasslands. The marsh is entirely grassland. Both are subject to dramatic changes on decadal time scales or less (e.g., http://www.vcrlter.Virginia.EDU/lteriii/mulpos.gif)  Monitoring those changes and identifying the processes involved is a core research topic for the VCR/LTER project.

 

Ecosystems represented:

 

Coastal barrier islands. Sandy intertidal; open beach; shrubthicket; mature pine forest; salt marsh; estuary.

 

List any site designations such as global warming research site, United Nations - Man and the Biosphere Reserve, etc.:

 

 

 

What is the resource to be monitored, long-term?

 

            Wetland Hydrological Research

 

Detailed description of the resource and relevant management issues:

 

Research activities of the VCR/LTER focus on the mosaic of transitions and steady-state systems that comprise the barrier-island/lagoon/mainland landscape of the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Primary study sites are located on Hog Island, Parramore Island and mainland marshes near Nassawadox VA.

 

Website: http://atlantic.evsc.virginia.edu/

 

 

Special characteristics (spectral values, thermal anomalies, underwater/ground, etc.):

 

Daily tidal cycle of approximately 1.2 meters means that marshes are sometimes above water and sometimes below.

 

Existing maps of area (digital?): 

There are numerous digital maps, satellite images and aerial photos available via the VCR/LTER WWW site (http://www.vcrlter.virginia.edu/data.html#image ).

 

 

MEDEA sponsor (active/passive):    

 

Sponsoring agency:                       National Science Foundation (NSF)

 

NSF agency point of contact:        Alan M. Gaines, Scott L. Collins

 

NSF site point of contact (current security clearance, if any):

 

John Vande Castle,  Security Clearance - YES

                                                      John H. Porter, Security Clearance Level: None (VCR/LTER)