La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	Vegetation and Soil Dynamics of a Louisiana Estuary Receiving Pulsed Mississippi River Water Following Hurricane Katrina
Auteurs :	John Day, Auteur ; Robert Lane, Auteur ; Matthew Moerschbaecher, Auteur ; Ronald DeLaune, Auteur ; Irving Mendelssohn, Auteur ; Joseph Baustian, Auteur ; Robert Twilley, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Estuaries and Coasts (36(4) JUL 2013)
Article en page(s) :	665-682
Résumé :	We monitored wetland biomass, decomposition, hydrology, and soil porewater chemistry at the Breton Sound estuary, which receives Mississippi River water from the Caernarvon river diversion structure. The estuary was in the direct path of hurricane Katrina in 2005, which caused a dramatic loss of wetlands in the upper basin. From March 2006 to October 2007, we made duplicate measurements at three distance classes from the diversion structure along the estuarine gradient as well as at a reference area, designated Near (N-1 however, the cotton strip decomposition rate was significantly lower at the lowest depth. Wetland surface vertical accretion ranged from 0.49 cm/year at N-2 to 1.24 cm/year at N-1, with site N-1 significantly greater than N-2, M-1, F-2, and R-1, and site N-2 significantly less than all other sites except site R-1. These findings show that marsh productivity and stability is related to a number of factors and no one factor can explain the impacts of the hurricanes.

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