Publications

The Gulf Coast Joint Venture of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan began contracting private agricultural lands (hereafter mini-refuges) in 1988 to expand existing sanctuaries for northern pintails (Anas acuta) in southwestern Louisiana. Previous research suggested that mini-refuges may prove more attractive to pintails than permanent, open-water pools (pools) on refuges...

Artificially increasing primary productivity decreases plant species richness in many habitats; herbivory may affect this outcome, but it has rarely been directly addressed in fertilization studies. This experiment was conducted in two Louisiana coastal marshes to examine the effects of nutrient enrichment and sediment addition on herbaceous plant communities with and without vertebrate...

Both vertebrate herbivores and fire have long been known to have dramatic and important effects on wetland vegetation. However, the interactive effects of burning and herbivory have received less attention. In this study, conducted in the coastal marshes of the Pearl River Basin in Louisiana, USA, both the effects of herbivory and fire as well as the interaction between these effects...

This paper discusses the spatial distribution patterns of the various species of the Unionid mussels as functions of their respective life-cycle characteristics. Computer simulations identify two life-cycle characteristics as major factors governing the abundance of a species, namely the movement range of their fish hosts and the success rate of the parasitic larval glochidia in finding...

Fish community structure is characterized by the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program as part of a perennial, multidisciplinary approach to evaluating the physical, chemical, and biological conditions of the Nation's water resources. The objective of quality assurance and quality control of fish taxonomic data that are collected as part of the NAWQA...

A topographic surface of a low lying coastal marsh was created by using three flood extent vectors digitized from ERS-1 SAR images and two elevation contours from U.S. Geological Survey topographic quadrangles. Point measurement of water depth at the times of the SAR collections allowed conversion of the radar measured flood extent vectors to topographic contours. Generation of the...

As part of the USGCRP research framework on coastal lands and ecosystems, the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey (National Wetlands Research Center) entered into partnership with Rice University, Louisiana State University, Duke University, Clemson University, University of Southwestern Louisiana, University of Georgia, and the Virginia Institute of Marine...

No abtract available.

Review info: Mangroves and saltmarshes. Edited by Eric Wolanski and Charles S. Hopkinson Jr., 1996.

Zebra mussel veliger densities were monitored throughout 1996 at Lock and Dam 52 on the lower Ohio River near Brookport, IL. The spawning season occurred between mid June and early September with veliger densities peaking at 30,000/m3 in late June. Veliger first appeared at a water temperature of 21° C. When spawning ended in September the water temperature was 22 °C. Veligers were found

Nearly all North American heron populations are migratory, but details of where they winter are little known. Locations where North American herons winter were identified using banding recovery data. North American herons winter from Canada through northern South America but especially in eastern North America south of New York, Florida, California, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico and Cuba...

Flooding and salinity stress are predicted to increase in coastal Louisiana as relative sea level rise (RSLR) continues in the Gulf of Mexico region. Although wetland plant species are adapted to these stressors, questions persist as to how marshes may respond to changed abiotic variables caused by RSLR, and how herbivory by native and non-native mammals may affect this response. The...