Geology topics
Research about Louisiana
Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Louisiana.
Effects of winter marsh burning on abundance and nesting activity of Louisiana seaside sparrows in the Gulf Coast Chenier Plain
Louisiana Seaside Sparrows ( Ammodramus maritimus fisheri ) breed and winter exclusively in brackish and saline marshes along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Many Gulf Coast marshes, particularly in the Chenier Plain of southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas, are burned intentionally in fall or winter as part of waterfowl management programs. Fire reportedly has negatively affected two Seaside Sparrow subspecies ( A. m. nigrescens and A. m. mirabilis ) in Florida, but there is no published information regarding effects of fire on A. m. fisheri. We compared abundance of territorial male Louisiana Seaside Sparrows, number of nesting activity indicators, and vegetation structure in paired burned and unburned plots in Chenier Plain marshes in southwestern Louisiana during the 1996 breeding season (April–July) before experimental winter burns (January 1997) and again during two breeding seasons post-burn (1997–1998). We found that abundance of male sparrows decreased in burned plots during the first breeding season post-burn, but was higher than that of unburned plots during the second breeding season post-burn. Indicators of nesting activity showed a similar but non-significant pattern in response to burning. Sparrow abundance and nesting activity seemingly are linked to dead vegetation cover, which was lower in burned plots during the first breeding season post-burn, but did not differ from that in unburned plots during the second breeding season post-burn. We recommend that marsh management plans in the Gulf Coast Chenier Plain integrate waterfowl and Seaside Sparrow management by maintaining a mosaic of burned and unburned marshes and allowing vegetation to recover for at least two growing seasons before re-burning a marsh.
Pattern and process of land loss in the Mississippi Delta: A spatial and temporal analysis of wetland habitat change
An earlier investigation (Turner 1997) concluded that most of the coastal wetland loss in Louisiana was caused by the effects of canal dredging, that loss was near zero in the absence of canals, and that land loss had decreased to near zero by the late 1990s. This analysis was based on a 15-min quadrangle (approximately 68,000 ha) scale that is too large to isolate processes responsible for small-scale wetland loss and too small to capture those responsible for large-scale loss. We conducted a further evaluation of the relationship between direct loss due to canal dredging and all other loss from 1933–1990 using a spatial scale of 4,100 ha that accurately captures local land-loss processes. Regressions of other wetland loss on canal area (i.e., direct loss) for the Birdfoot, Terrebonne, and Calcasieu basins were not significant. Positive relationships were found for the Breton (r 2 =0.675), Barataria (r 2 =0.47), and Mermentau (r 2 =0.35) basins, indicating that the extent of canals is significantly related to wetland loss in these basins. A significant negative relationship (r 2 =0.36) was found for the Atchafalaya coastal basin which had statistically lower loss rates than the other basins as a whole. The Atchafalaya area receives direct inflow of about one third of the Mississippi discharge. When the data were combined for all basins, 9.2% of the variation in other wetland loss was attributable to canals. All significant regressions intercepted the y-axis at positive loss values indicating that some loss occurred in the absence of canals. Wetland loss did not differ significantly from the coast inland or between marsh type. We agree with Turner that canals are an important agent in causing wetland loss in coastal Louisiana, but strongly disagree that they are responsible for the vast majority of this loss. We conclude that wetland loss in the Mississippi delta is an ongoing complex process involving several interacting factors and that efforts to create and restore Louisiana’s coastal wetlands must emphasize riverine inputs of freshwater and sediments.
Condition bias of hunter-shot ring-necked ducks exposed to lead
We evaluated the condition bias hypothesis for ring-necked ducks ( Aythya collaris ) exposed to lead by testing the null hypothesis that ducks shot by hunters do not differ in physiological condition from those collected randomly from the same location. After adjusting for structural body size and log(e) concentration of blood lead, we found that overall body condition differed significantly between collection types and age classes, and marginally between sexes. Ingesta-free body mass of ring-necked ducks sampled randomly averaged 8.8% greater than those shot over decoys, and 99% of this difference was accounted for by lipid reserves. Ingesta, ash, and protein did not differ between collection types; however, after-hatching-year (AHY) birds had 5.1% more ash and 4.8% more protein than did hatching-year (HY) birds. The only sex difference was that males had 4.1% more protein than did females. Ingesta-free body mass, lipids, and protein were negatively related to concentration of blood lead. Collection type-by-concentration of blood lead and age-by-sex-by-concentration of blood lead interactions were not significant. To the extent that lead pellets persist as a cause of disease or mortality, waterfowl biologists should account for lead exposure as a possible source of condition bias when estimating population parameters and modeling survival of ring-necked ducks and other waterfowl species prone to ingest lead. These findings further underscore the problem that ingested lead shotgun pellets pose for waterfowl.
Water resources data, Louisiana, water year 1999
Water resources data for the 1999 water year for Louisiana consists of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage, contents, and water quality of lakes and reservoirs; and water levels and water quality of ground water. This report contains records for water discharge at 63 gaging stations; stage only for 60 gaging stations and 7 lakes; water quality for 79 surface-water stations (including 32 gaging stations) and 107 wells; and water levels for 254 observation wells. Also included are data for 198 crest-stage and flood-profile partial-record stations. Additional water data were collected at various sites not included in the systematic data-collection program, and are published as miscellaneous measurements. These data represent that part of the National Water Data System operated by the U.S. Geological Survey and cooperating State and Federal agencies in Louisiana.
Growth and nutrition of baldcypress families planted under varying salinity regimes in Louisiana, USA
Saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico is one important factor in the destruction of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.) swamps along the Louisiana Gulf Coast, USA. Recent restoration efforts have focused on identification of baldcypress genotypes with greater tolerance to saline conditions than previously reported. To date, salt tolerance investigations have not been conducted under saline field conditions. In 1996, therefore, three plantations were established with 10 half-sib genotype collections of baldcypress in mesohaline wetlands. Tree survival and growth were measured at the end of two growing seasons, and foliar ion concentrations of Na, Cl, K, and Ca and available soil nutrients were measured during the 1996 growing season. In general, soil nutrient concentrations exceeded averages found in other baldcypress stands in the southeastern United States. Seedlings differed among sites in all parameters measured, with height, diameter, foliar biomass, and survival decreasing as site salinity increased. Average seedling height at the end of two years, for example, was 196.4 cm on the lowest salinity site and 121.6 cm on the highest. Several half-sib families maintained greater height growth increments (ranging from 25.5 to 54.5 cm on the highest salinity site), as well as lower foliar ion concentrations of K, Cl, and Ca. Results indicate that genotypic screening of baldcypress may improve growth and vigor of seedlings planted within wetlands impacted by saltwater intrusion.
Historic and present-day forest conditions: Implications for bottomland hardwood forest restoration
No abstract available
Effects of winter burning and structural marsh management on vegetation and winter bird abundance in the Gulf Coast Chenier Plain, USA
Marshes in the Gulf Coast Chenier Plain provide important winter habitats for many species of birds. Many of, these marshes are managed intensively through a combination of fall/winter burning and construction of impoundments to improve wintering waterfowl habitat, reduce wetland loss, and create emergent wetlands. Little information is available on effects of this management on wintering birds, particularly passerines. We conducted experimental burns in impounded and unimpounded marshes on Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge in southwest Louisiana and recorded species composition and abundance of birds during the 1996 and 1997 winters. We found that burning and impoundment influenced vegetation structure, which in turn influenced bird abundance and species composition. Blackbirds (Icteridae) preferred recently burned plots. Sparrows (Emberizidae) and wrens (Troglodytidae) avoided recently burned plots but recolonized these plots after one year of vegetation recovery. Sparrows and wrens present in burned plots during the first winter following burning generally were observed in scattered patches of unburned vegetation. Suitability of Chenier Plain marshes as winter habitat for several bird species was reduced during the winter in which burning was conducted, particularly if a high proportion of the plot was burned. We recommend that patchy burns be used, at both the landscape level and within specific burned areas, to achieve management objectives and still provide suitable winter habitat for non-target species. Although many groups of birds depend on Chenier Plain marshes for winter habitat, these groups differ in their specific habitat requirements. We recommend that a diverse wetland complex (e.g., impoundments managed for waterfowl foraging habitat interspersed with those managed for passerine winter cover) be maintained.
Natural regeneration and growth of Taxodium distichum (L.) rich. In Lake Chicot, Louisiana after 44 years of flooding
Lake Chicot, in south central Louisiana, USA, was created in 1943 by the impoundment of Chicot Bayou. Extensive establishment of woody seedlings occurred in the lake during a 1.5 year period, including the growing seasons of both 1986 and 1987, when the reservoir was drained for repair work on the dam. Study plots were established in September 1986 to document woody vegetation establishment and to provide a baseline by which to monitor survival and growth after flooding resumed. Taxodium distichum seedlings were the dominant species after one growing season, with a maximum density of 50 seedlings/m 2 , an average of about 2/m 2 , and an average height of 75 cm. The lake was reflooded at the end of 1987, bringing water depths at the study plots up to about 1.4 m. Temporary drawdowns were again conducted during the fall of 1992 and 1996. In December 1992, the site was revisited, new plots established, and saplings counted and measured. There was an average of 2.1 T. distichum stems/m 2 , and the average height was 315 cm. After the 1996 growing season, there was still an average of about 1.9 stems/m 2 , and the average height had increased to 476 cm. Preservation of T. distichum forests in relatively shallow but continuously flooded areas such as Lake Chicot may be a simple matter of draining the lake after a good seed crop and maintaining the drawdown long enough for the seedlings to grow taller than the typical growing season water level. In the case of Lake Chicot, this period was two growing seasons. This action will mimic natural, drought-related drawdowns of the lake and will allow the seedlings to establish themselves and grow tall enough to survive normal lake water levels.
Modeling the effects of nutria (Myocastor coypus) on wetland loss
We created a model to study the process in which nutria ( Myocastor coypus ) feeding activities lead to erosion and loss of marsh area. This model ties together data on nutria population dynamics and feeding behavior from the literature with data from field studies on the phenology of Scirpus americanus and Spartina patens conducted in the Barataria Basin, Louisiana, USA in 1992. The complete model consists of three linked models: a model of nutria population dynamics (nutria model), a model of the annual marsh biomass cycle of Scirpus americanus and Spartina patens (biomass model), and a plant-biomass density-dependent marsh area model (area model). When all three models are linked together, they form the 'nutria-biomass-area model.' Analysis of the models indicated the following. (1) The high population densities and low survivorship rates as reported in the literature are incompatible. (2) the nutria model is sensitive to adult and juvenile survivorship and, to a lesser extent, young born per female. It is not particularly sensitive to gestation periods, impregnation rates, or time to maturity. (3) The marsh area model is not sensitive to the marsh loss equation nor to the density at which loss of marsh area begins but is sensitive to the amount of biomass destroyed per nutria. (4) Nutria numbers do not significantly decrease in the nutria-biomass-area model until the total marsh area approaches zero because marsh loss occurs only during winter when marsh biomass is at its annual low.
Effects of environmental change on plant species density: Comparing predictions with experiments
Ideally, general ecological relationships may be used to predict responses of natural communities to environmental change, but few attempts have been made to determine the reliability of predictions based on descriptive data. Using a previously published structural equation model (SEM) of descriptive data from a coastal marsh landscape, we compared these predictions against observed changes in plant species density resulting from field experiments (manipulations of soil fertility, flooding, salinity, and mammalian herbivory) in two areas within the same marsh. In general, observed experimental responses were fairly consistent with predictions. The largest discrepancy occurred when sods were transplanted from high- to low-salinity sites and herbivores selectively consumed a particularly palatable plant species in the transplanted sods. Individual plot responses to some treatments were predicted more accurately than others. Individual fertilized plot responses were not consistent with predictions (P > 0.05), nor were fenced plots (herbivore exclosures; R2 = 0.15) compared to unfenced plots (R2 = 0.53). For the remaining treatments, predictions reasonably matched responses (R2 = 0.63). We constructed an SEM for the experimental data; it explained 60% of the variance in species density and showed that fencing and fertilization led to decreases in species density that were not predicted from treatment effects on community biomass or observed disturbance levels. These treatments may have affected the ratio of live to dead biomass, and competitive exclusion likely decreased species density in fenced and fertilized plots. We conclude that experimental validation is required to determine the predictive value of comparative relationships derived from descriptive data.
The effects of crude oil and remediation burning on three clones of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora loisel.)
Burning has been employed as an oil spill remediation technique in coastal marshes, even though the combined and interactive effects of oil and burning on vegetation are poorly understood. Variation among clones of perennial marsh grasses in response to these perturbations is not known. We performed a greenhouse experiment designed to assess the effects of Venezuelan crude oil alone and of oil followed by burning on three clonal genets of Spartina alterniflora . The fully-crossed 6-mo experiment involved five dosages of oil (0 l m −2 , 4 l m −2 , 8 l m −2 , 16 l m −2 , and 24 l m −2 ) and two burn treatments (burned or unburned) applied to ramets from three clones. All oil-only dosages reduced survival, but burning after oiling (oil + burn treatments) increased survival relative to oil-only groups in all except the highest two oil dosages. Higher oil-only treatments also reduced ramet densities and inhibited density increases over 6 mo. Burning after treatment with the 16 l m −2 oil concentration allowed increased production of new ramets, but burning exacerbated the negative impacts on ramet density at the oil concentration of 24 l m −2 . At some intermediate oil dosages, burning remediated the negative effects of oil on aboveground biomass production and growth in height. There was a significant effect of oil-only treatments on numbers of flowering ramets produced, in which two clones responded with decreased flower production and one exhibited increased flowering. There was no main effect of oil + burn on flowering. There were significant among-clones differences in all response variables to one or both treatments. Our experiment demonstrates that burning of oiled S. alterniflora marshes may have little measurable effect at low levels of Venezuelan crude oil, can remediate the effects of oil at intermediate oil concentrations, but can increase the negative impacts at high concentrations of oil. These results indicate that oil spills have the potential to adversely affect genetic diversity in S. alterniflora populations by eliminating some sensitive clonal variants or changing the relative dominance of genets. These results suggest certain clones may be better suited for phytoremediation or restoration planting following oil spills.