Deer Island Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration

Deer Island is a barrier island in the Mississippi Sound that protects the city of Biloxi from storm impacts, sea-level rise, and wind impacts. Storms caused a breach in the island, reducing elevation, killing vegetation and eroding beaches. The island was restored using dredged material to increase elevation and nourish beaches. Once dredged material filled the breach, approximately 300,000 native grasses, forbs, herbs, vines, trees, and shrubs were planted to enhance the creation of natural sand dunes and to stabilize the island, along with an additional 325,000 grasses to stabilize marshes on the southern end of the island.