Some of the most beautiful examples of barrier islands on the Atlantic Coast are National Seashores, a part of the National Park system. Barrier islands are dynamic and ever-changing places. Land that is there one day is gone the next, and what was water one day may be beach the next. It is rare, and kind of exciting, to be able to see geology in action on such a time scale. Many barrier islands are substantial chunks of land, much more than a raised sand bar in the shallow water.
Larger islands are apt to have numerous habitat types.
Between the ocean on one side and the bay on the other, barrier island habitats include the beach, primary dunes, sandy overwash terraces, grasslands, shrub thickets, oak and pine forests, salt marshes, and occasionally fresh water ponds. Many of these habitats are ideal for a sand-loving lizard, the glass lizard. In locales where two or more species are found, they can be difficult to tell apart. For more information on glass lizards, download the G lass Lizard Fact Sheet , and take a look at Eva Horne's webpage about glass lizards .