Abstract
The Louisiana coastal marshes form some of the most extensive wetlands within the continental United States. The problem of land loss in these coastal marshes is well-documented, but very little is known about possible changes in vegetation composition that might be associated with this loss. We analyzed vegetation data collected from 1968 to 1992 in the tidal wetlands of Terrebonne parish and described five vegetation types that occur in this region. Our data did not show the predicted change to more salt-tolerant vegetation. This is probably due to the influence of the Atchafalaya River in the study area. However, we documented a large change in the dominant vegetation of the fresh marsh.Panicum hemitomon-dominated marshes occupied 51% of the study area in 1968 and only 14% in 1992. This vegetation type was replaced withEleocharis baldwinii-dominated marshes (3% in 1968 to 41% in 1992). This change occurred adjacent to an area of significant conversion to open water. Based on limited available data from the literature, we evaluated three potential driving factors in this change-grazing, water-level increase, and water quality-but could not determine the cause of change definitively.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Literature Cited
Baumann, R. H., J. W. Day Jr., and C. A. Miller. 1984. Mississippi deltaic wetland survival: sedimentation vs. coastal submergence. Science 224:1093–1095.
Boar, R. R., C. E. Crook, and B. Moss. 1989. Regression ofPhragmites australis reedswamps and recent changes of water chemistry in the Norfolk Broadland, England. Aquatic Botany 35:41–55.
Boorman, L. A. and R. M. Fuller. 1981. The changing status of reedswamp in the Norfolk Broads. Journal of Applied Ecology 18:241–269.
Boesch, D. E., M. N. Josselyn, A. J. Mehta, J. T. Morris, W. K. Nuttle, C. A. Simmenstad, and D. J. P. Swift. 1994. Scientific assessment of coastal wetland loss, restoration and management in Louisiana. Journal of Coastal Research Special Issue 20.
Britsch, L. D. and J. B. Dunbar. 1993. Land loss rates: Louisiana Coastal Plain. Journal of Coastal Research 9:324–338.
Britsch, L. D. and E. B. Kemp. 1990. Land Loss Rates, Report 1, Mississippi River Deltaic Plain. U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station. Vicksburg, MS, USA. COE Tech Report GL-90-2.
Chabreck, R. H. 1972. Vegetation, water, and soil characteristics of the Louisiana coastal region. Louisiana State University Agricultural Experiment Station, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Bulletin No. 664.
Chabreck, R. H. and R. G. Linscombe. 1982. Changes in vegetative types in Louisiana coastal marshes over a ten-year period. Louisiana Academy of Sciences 45:98–102.
Coleman, J. M. and S. M. Gagliano. 1964. Cyclic sedimentation in the Mississippi River deltaic plain. Transactions of the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies 14:67–80.
Condrey, R., P. Kemp, J. Visser, J. Gosselink, D. Lindstedt, E. Melancon, Jr., G. Peterson, and B. Thompson. 1995. Characterization of the current status, trends, and probable causes of change in living resources in the Barataria-Terrebonne estuarine system. Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuarine Program, Thibodaux, LA, USA. BTNEP Publ. No. 21.
Correll, D. S. and H. B. Correll. 1975. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southwestern United States. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, USA.
Craig, N. J., R. E. Turner, and J. W. Day, Jr. 1979. Land loss in coastal Louisiana (USA). Environmental Management 3:133–144.
David, P. G. 1996. Changes in plant communities relative to hydrologic conditions in the Florida Everglades. Wetlands 16:15–23.
Evans, J. 1970. About nutria and their control. US Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC, USA. Resource Publication 86.
Evers, D. E., J. G. Gosselink, C. E. Sasser, and J. M. Hill. 1992. Wetland loss dynamics in southwestern Barataria basin, Louisiana (USA), 1945–1985. Wetlands Ecology and Management 2:103–118.
Evers, D. E., G. O. Holm, and C. E. Sasser. 1996. Digitization of the floating marsh maps in the Barataria and Terrebonne Basins Louisiana. Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuarine Program, Thibodaux, LA, USA. BTNEP Publ. No. 28.
Evers, D. E., C. E. Sasser, J. G. Gosselink, D. A. Fuller, and J. M. Visser. 1998. The impact of vertebrate herbivores on wetland vegetation in Atchafalaya Bay, Louisiana. Estuaries 21:1–13.
Field, D. W., A. J. Reyer, P. A. Genovese, and B. D. Shearer. 1991. Coastal Wetlands of the United States: an accouming of a valuable national resource. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC. USA. Special NOAA 20th Anniversary Report.
Gagliano, S. M., K. J. Meyer-Arendt, and K. M. Wicker. 1981. Land loss in the Mississippi River deltaic plain. Transactions of the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies 31:295–300.
Godfrey, R. K. and J. W. Wooten. 1981. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States. University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, USA.
Grace, J. B. and M. A. Ford. 1996. The potential impact of herbivores on the susceptibility of the marsh plantSagittaria lancifolia to saltwater intrusion in coastal wetlands. Estuaries 19:13–20.
Hill, M. O. 1979. Twinspan—a FORTRAN Program for Arranging Multivariate Data in an Ordered Two-Way Table by Classification of the Individuals and Attributes. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Kinler, N., R. G. Linscombe, and R. H. Chabreck. 1980. Smooth beggartick, its distribution, control and impact on nutria in coastal Louisiana. p. 142–154. In J. A. Chapman and D. Pursley (eds.) Worldwide Furbearer Conference Proceedings, Forstburg, MD, USA.
Klötzli, E. 1971. Biogenous influence on aquatic macrophytes especiallyPhragmites communis. Hidrobiologia, Bucaresti 12:107–111.
Leibowitz, S. G. 1989. The pattern and process of land loss in Coastal Louisiana: a landscape ecological analysis. Ph.D. Dissertation. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
Lowery, H. G., Jr. 1974. The Mammals of Louisiana and Its Adjacent Waters. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
McKee, K. L. and I. A. Mendelssohn. 1989. Response of freshwater marsh plant community to increased salinity and increased water level. Aquatic Botany 34:301–316.
Mitsch, W. J. and J. G. Gosselink. 1993. Wetlands. 2nd Edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, NY, USA.
Nyman, J. A., R. H. Chabreck, and N. W. Kinler. 1993. Some effects of herbivory and 30 years of weir management on emergent vegetation in a brackish marsh. Wetlands 13:165–175.
Ostendorp, W. 1989. Dic-back’ of reeds in Europe-a critical review of the literature. Aquatic Botany 35:5–26.
Rabalais, N. N., Q. Dortch, D. Justic, M. B. Killen, P. L. Klerks, P. H. Templet, R. E. Turner, B. Cole, D. Duet, M. Beachams, S. Lentz, M. Parsons, S. Rabalais, and R. Robichaux. 1995. Status and trends of eutrophication, pathogen contamination, and toxic substances in the Barataria and Terrebonne estuarine system. Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuarine Program, Thibodaux, LA, USA. BTNEP Publ. No. 22.
Rabalais, N. N., R. E. Turner, D. Justic, Q. Dortch, W. J. Wiseman, Jr., and B. K. Sen Gupta. 1996. Nutrient changes in the Mississippi River and system responses on the adjacent continental shelf. Estuaries 19:386–407.
Sasser, C. E., M. D. Dozier, J. G. Gosselink, and J. M. Hill. 1986. Spatial and temporal changes in Louisiana’s Barataria basin marshes, 1945–1980. Environmental Management 10:671–680.
Sasser, C. E., J. G. Gosselink, E. M. Swenson, and D. E. Evers. 1995a. Hydrology, vegetation, and substrate of floating marshes in sediment-rich wetlands of the Mississippi river delta plain, Louisiana, USA. Wetlands Ecology 3:171–187.
Sasser, C. E., E. M. Swenson, D. E. Evers, J. M. Visser, G. O. Holm, and J. G. Gosselink. 1994. Floating Marshes in the Barataria and Terrebonne Basins, Louisiana. Coastal Ecology Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton-Rouge, LA, USA. LSU-CEI-94-02.
Sasser, C. E., J. M. Visser, D. E. Evers, and J. G. Gosselink. 1995b. The role of environmental variables on interannual variation in species composition and biomass in a subtropical minerotrophic floating marsh. Canadian Journal of Botany 73:413–424.
Scaife, W. W., R. E. Turner, and R. Costanza. 1983. Recent land loss and canal impact on coastal Louisiana. Environmental Management 7:433–442.
Shaffer, G. P., C. E. Sasser, J. G. Gosselink, and M. Rejmánek. 1992. Vegetation dynamics in the emerging Atchafalaya delta, Louisiana, USA. Journal of Ecology 80:677–687.
Swenson, E. M. and C. M. Swarzenski. 1995. Water levels and salinity in the Barataria-Terrebonne estuarine system. p. 129–201. In D. J. Reed (ed.) Status and Trends of Hydrologic Modification, Reduction in Sediment Availability, and Habitat Loss/Modification in The Barataria-Terrebonne Estuarine System. Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuarine Program, Thibodaux, LA, USA, BTNEP Publ. No. 20.
Taylor, K. L., J. B. Grace, G. R. Guntenspergen, and A. L. Foote. 1994. The interactive effects of herbivory and fire on an oligohaline marsh, Little Lake, Louisiana, USA. Wetlands 14:82–87.
Tausch, R. J., D. A. Charlet, D. A. Weixelman, and D. C. Zamundio, 1995. Patterns of ordination and classification instability resulting from changes in input data order. Journal of Vegetation Science 6:897–902.
Turner, R. E. 1990. Landscape development and coastal wetland losses in the northern Gulf of Mexico. American Zoology 30:89–105.
Visser, J. M., C. E. Sasser, R. H. Chabreck, and R. G. Linscombe. 1998. Marsh vegetation types of the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain, USA. Estuaries 21:818–828.
Walker, H. J., J. M. Coleman, H. H. Roberts, and R. S. Tye. 1987. Wetland loss in Louisiana. Geografiska Annaler 69A:189–200.
Wiseman, W. J., Jr, E. M. Swenson, and J. Power. 1990. Salinity trends in Louisiana estuaries. Estuaries 13:265–271.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Visser, J.M., Sasser, C.E., Chabreck, R.H. et al. Long-term vegetation change in Louisiana tidal marshes, 1968–1992. Wetlands 19, 168–175 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03161746
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03161746