Louisiana coastal wetlands

The major processes involved in marsh stability dynamics within Louisiana coastal wetlands are... 

A series of diversion projects have been implemented to reintroduce freshwater and sediment from the Mississippi River into Louisiana coastal wetlands (Figure 18.9). A recent study examined the impact of Mississippi River freshwater diversion on enhancing vertical marsh accretion (mineral and organic matter accumulation) in Breton Sound estuary, a coastal wetland experiencing marsh deterioration as a result of subsidence and saltwater intrusion (DeLaune et al., 2003). The Caernarvon diversion has positively impacted marsh accretion in Brenton Sound estuary helping to slow or reverse wetland loss. Several hundred hectares of new marsh have been created by the introduction of Mississippi River water into the system (Villarrubia, 1998). 

OF TOXIC ORGANIC COMPOUNDS AND POLLUTANTS IN THE LOUISIANA COASTAL WETLAND... 

Explain and discuss the benefit of diverting Mississippi River water into Louisiana Coastal wetland. 

List the major nitrogen inputs into Louisiana coastal wetlands. 

DeLaune, R. D., J. C. Callaway, W. H. Patrick, Jr., and J. A. Nyman. 2004. Analysis of marsh accretionary process in Louisiana coastal wetlands. In D. W. Davis and M. Richardson (eds.) The Coastal Zone Papers in Honor of H. Jesse Walker. Geoscience Publications, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. pp. 113-130. 

Guntenspergen G. R., Foote A. L. and Pendleton E. C. (1993) Experiment to determine value of impoundments and hydrologic manipulation in restoration of Louisiana coastal wetlands. Restoration and Management Notes 11,64-65. 

Lake Pontchartraln receives drainage from an area of approximately 5,000 square miles located mostly to its north. Several rivers drain the Louisiana coastal plain terraces while two other rivers drain the former Mississippi River floodplain southwest and west of the lake. From the south. Lake Pontchartraln receives extensive wetland (marsh and swamp) drainage. The greater New Orleans area, which includes Jefferson and Orleans Parishes, is now leveed off from the lake. However, this metropolitan area, home for over a million people, is drained by pumping from an extensive network of man-made canals into Lake Pontchartraln. 

Coastal Wetlands Mississippi River Deltaic Plain Coastal Marshes, Louisiana... 

Saltwater intrnsion is a dominant edaphic factor that inflnences the survival, growth, and species composition in coastal wetlands along the Louisiana Gnlf Coast. The net effect of sublethal salt stress is the redaction in growth especially in marsh soils with low bulk density or mineral content in the soil profile. For most species growing in salt and brackish marshes, elevated salinity does not create a favorable environment for growth and productivity (Figure 18.14). In fact, numerous... 

The amounts and profile distribution of various sulfur forms in Louisiana coastal marshes are important in understanding sulfur cycling as related to the origin and type of tidal wetland marshes. Sulfur forms and distribution were determined in P. hemitomon freshwater marsh, a S. patens brackish marsh, and a S. alterniflora salt marsh along a salinity gradient in Barataria Basin, Louisiana. Soil samples were fractionated into acid volatile sulfur (AVS), elemental sulfur, HCl-soluble sulfur, pyrite sulfur, ester sulfate sulfur, carbon-bonded sulfur, and total sulfur (see Chapter 11 for details). 

Leibowitz, S. G. and J. M. Hill. 1987. Spatial analysis of Louisiana coastal land loss. In R. E. Turner and D. R. Gaboon (eds.) Causes of Wetland Loss in the Coastal Central Gulf of Mexico. Volume II Technical Narrative. Final report submitted to minerals Management Srvice, New Orleans, LA. Contract No. 14-12-001-30252. OCS Study/MMS 87-0120. 400 pp. 

---