Eastern Virginia Ecosystems

How do organisms interact within their ecosystem?

Wooden walkway leading to beach

Virginia Ecosystems

Virginia is a large state with diverse landforms. There is a broad flat Coastal Plain, a Piedmont with rolling hills, Blue Ridge Mountains, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau. The map below divides Virginia into more than those five geographic regions.

An ecosystem is an area where living and nonliving things interact. Click on the colored areas on the map below. Read the popups to learn the type of ecosystem and a description of the landforms in that ecosystem.

Turn to your neighbor and discuss these questions. 💭What ecosystems do the colored areas represent? 💭What types of landforms are described?

Powered by Esri

Map of Ecosystems in Virginia

Now, let's take a closer look at the ecosystems where we live.

Virginia Beach, VA

Virginia Beach is a coastal city. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Chesapeake Bay to the north.

Most of Virginia Beach is shaded purple. Click on it and you will see that much of Virginia Beach is an eastern temperate forest. These forests are on low-lying lands with many areas covered by tidal marshes.

Look carefully and you will notice a light green area in Virginia Beach. This ecosystem is along the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. 🖱️ Click on the green area to read a description of this ecosystem.

Powered by Esri

Eastern Temperate Forest

A trail at First Landing State Park. Notice the variety of trees.

The forest floor at First Landing State Park has pine needles, leaves, roots, and pine cones.

Live oaks spread their thick branches wide. They provide cooling shade under a hot summer sun.

Cicada emerging from it's shell.

Squirrel eating an acorn.

Screech owl

Chesapeake Bay Watershed

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is an important estuary on the east coast of the United States.

Chesapeake Bay Watershed

The teal area on the map outlines all of the land that drains into the Chesapeake Bay. 👀Look for the orange outline of Virginia Beach at the bottom of the map. Now follow the Chesapeake Bay north. Can you name all of the states that have land which drains into the Chesapeake Bay? (Hint: 🖱️ Click on the teal area to see a popup with more facts!)

Scroll through the pictures below to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Chesapeake Bay.

What do you notice about the sand dunes in this picture?

What living and nonliving things can you see?

What evidence do you see of human activity?

A Great Blue Heron captures a blue crab. Does the audio of the Great Blue Heron sound like you would expect from this large bird?

The Horseshoe Crab has a hard exoskeleton and a spike-like tail. They may look dangerous, but they are harmless.

Horseshoe Crab

The Bay Anchovy is the most abundant fish in the Chesapeake Bay. They are very small and live in groups called "schools."

Grasses growing along the bay. How are dune grasses important to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed?

This is a view of the Chesapeake Bay from the Eastern Shore of Virginia. What evidence can you find of human activity?

Maritime Swamps

 The Virginia Department of Conservation and Resources describes a maritime swamp as  "forests that are seasonally flooded and saturated forests occupying large, protected, interdune swales, flats immediately behind tidal marshes, and the bottoms of streams just inland from estuarine zones."

Bald Cypress trees with Spanish Moss in a swamp at First Landing State Park.

Bald Cypress Swamp

Non-venomous Redbelly Water Snake

A frog resting on a log.

This Red Eared Slider turtle was seen sunning on a log in the swamp at First Landing. What features of the turtle's body help it to live in a swamp?

Notice the rainbow colored water? Do you think this is fresh water or salty water?

Atlantic Ocean

Oceans are another ecosystem in our region of Virginia. The Atlantic Ocean is on the east coast of Virginia.  Click here to learn more about the ocean habitat. 

The Virginia Beach oceanfront. How have humans affected the oceanfront ecosystem?

This picture is of the undeveloped oceanfront beach at False Cape State Park in Virginia Beach.

Seagulls flying over Sandbridge Beach in Virginia Beach.

A Kemp's Ridley sea turtle building a nest and laying eggs at False Cape State Park.

A whale breaches the surface off of the coast of Virginia Beach.

Dolphins jumping in the Atlantic Ocean.


Works Cited

“Bald Cypress Swamp.” First Landing State Park, Flickr, 6 Feb. 2016, https://www.flickr.com/photos/vastateparksstaff/24858183215?scrlybrkr=28d1b6af. Accessed 17 May 2023.

Bartos, Corey. Horseshoe Crab. Flickr, 12 Oct. 2016, https://flic.kr/p/Mayq3f. Accessed 16 May 2023.

“Camping at First Landing State Park.” Virginia State Parks, Flickr, 10 June 2019. Accessed 16 May 2023.

Cole, Taylor. Bay Grasses. Unsplash, 28 Sept. 2022. Accessed 16 May 2023.

Cypress Swamp. Photo credit required: Photo courtesy of Va. Dept. of Conservation & Recreation.

Ecosystem, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/ecosystem/. Accessed 16 May 2023.

Fluffy Squirrel Having Lunch. Unsplash, 22 Nov. 2019, https://unsplash.com/photos/iPC7ITVHMIk. Accessed 16 May 2023.

Halseth, Daniel. “Another Beautiful Sunset at Virginia Beach!” Unsplash, 11 Nov. 2019, https://unsplash.com/photos/z2S3nhDwWZ8. Accessed 17 May 2023.

Lee, Jenna. “Seagulls over Sandbridge.” Unsplash, 30 Nov. 2020, https://unsplash.com/photos/y_UoVbNBU_Q. Accessed 17 May 2023.

Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Nino, Bill. Cicada. Unsplash, 21 May 2021, https://unsplash.com/photos/w5vM2PCmR0k. Accessed 16 May 2023.

Sand dunes. Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Bill Crabtree, Jr., Va. Tourism Corp.

“Pine Needles Roots and Pinecones on Trails at First Landing State Parks.” Virginia State Parks, Flickr, 2 Mar. 2017, https://www.flickr.com/photos/vastateparksstaff/33080904161/in/photostream/. Accessed 16 May 2023.

Sheehy, Coleman. Heron with Blue Crab. Flickr, 11 July 2015, https://flic.kr/p/vRvDgK. Accessed 16 May 2023.

“Trail at First Landing State Park.” Virginia State Parks, Flickr, 2 Mar. 2017, https://www.flickr.com/photos/vastateparksstaff/32393846853/in/photostream/. Accessed 16 May 2023.

"Red Eared Slider." Virginia State Parks staff, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons