Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus Clarkii In The Atchafalaya River Basin: Biotic And Abiotic Effects On Population Dynamics And Physiological Biomarkers Of Hypoxic Stress, Christopher Paul Bonvillain

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Crayfish harvested from the Atchafalaya River Basin (ARB) represent the majority of Louisiana wild crayfish landings. However, excluding water level influences, it is difficult to elucidate inter-annual harvest differences and intra-annual population variability among habitats. This research investigated ecological influences on population characteristics of red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii in the southeastern ARB as well as physiological biomarkers of hypoxic stress in P. clarkii. Biotic and abiotic effects on P. clarkii populations were examined throughout the 2008 and 2009 commercial crayfish seasons. P. clarkii catch per unit effort (CPUE) at sampling locations increased nearly 600% between sample years despite similar …

Effects Of Varying Land Use On Headwater Stream Fish Assemblages And In-Stream Habitats In Southwestern Louisiana, Alexandra Marie Fitzgerald

LSU Master's Theses

Although watershed land use effects on in-stream fish habitat and fish-macrohabitat associations have been widely studied in the past, low-gradient, coastal Louisiana streams have been poorly described in the literature. In this thesis, I report the results of a two-year study exploring relationships among regional land use, in-stream physical habitat, and headwater stream fish assemblages. In chapter two, I examined in-stream habitat variables such as depth, flow, and substrate combined with three-pass electrofishing depletion estimates at thirteen 100-m stream sites. I used a combination of principle component analysis and structural equation modeling to determine if trends were present in the …

Comprehensive Planning And Resilience: A Study Of Louisiana Parishes After Hurricane Katrina, Mary Paille

LSU Master's Theses

When hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit in 2005, widespread devastation was felt in over half of the parishes in the state. More than 200,000 homes were damaged and more than 1500 people lost their lives. During this transitionary period, communities were vulnerable and looked for rebuilding leadership. As part of a post-catastrophe resilience movement, the Louisiana Recovery Authority formulated a 50-year regional plan for recovering south Louisiana called Louisiana Speaks. This planning process opened up an opportunity to reach those communities that otherwise may not have considered planning or how it could help them prepare for future events. This places …

Population Characteristics Of A White-Tailed Deer Herd In An Industrial Pine Forest Of North-Central Louisiana, John Henry Harrelson

LSU Master's Theses

White-tailed deer are the most important game species in Louisiana, and throughout the southeastern United States. Likewise, the forest products industry represents the most important agricultural commodity in Louisiana, and industrial landowners frequently lease their properties to sportsmen specifically for white-tailed deer hunting. I conducted research assessing survival, space use, and habitat selection of white-tailed deer on a 3885 ha industrial forest owned by Plum Creek Timber Company. I captured 61 deer in Union Parish, Louisiana in 2009-2010, radio-marked 24 females and 23 males, and ear-tagged 7 females and 6 males. Season and sex interacted to affect home range and …

Investigation Into The Cause Of Earthen Embankment Instability Along The "V-Line" Artificial Levee In Marrero, Louisiana, Usa, Jason Hicks

LSU Master's Theses

The “V-line” levee, located in Marrero, LA, has a crack along its crest, measuring approximately 100 meters in length, 30 centimeters in depth, and 30 centimeters in width. This crack is a sign of levee instability. Seismic shear wave, CPT, and laboratory shear strength data were collected and processed to identify the cause of the instability. A zone of low seismic shear wave velocity was interpreted approximately 3 meters deep from the berm of the levee. Because of the large spacing between laboratory shear strength test sampling and CPT sites, a similar zone of low shear strength was not found …

An Overview Of Green Jobs In The Louisiana Forest Sector, Ryan D. Olson

LSU Master's Theses

The term “green job” is a relatively new definition that defines employment activities that are likely to have occurred since the beginning of human existence. The push to identify, to quantify and to drive the growth of these jobs has recently been brought on by climate change and the depletion of Earth’s natural resources. According to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, green jobs are either (a) Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources or (b) Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production …

Pooling For Horizontal Wells: Can They Teach An Old Dog New Tricks?, Bruce M. Kramer

Shale Plays in the Intermountain West: Legal and Policy Issues (November 12)

74 pages.

This paper was originally published as:

Bruce M. Kramer, “Pooling for Horizontal Wells: Can They Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?,” 55 Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst. 8-1, § 8.05 (2009).

Slides: Drilling Waste, Blake Scott

Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development in Uintah Basin (October 14)

Presenter: Blake Scott, Scott Environmental Services, Inc.

24 slides

Beneath The Salt Marsh Canopy: Loss Of Soil Strength With Increasing Nutrient Loads, R. Eugene Turner

Faculty Publications

Although the broadly observed increase in nutrient loading rates to coastal waters in the last 100 years may increase aboveground biomass, it also tends to increase soil metabolism and lower root and rhizome biomass—responses that can compromise soil strength. Fourteen different multiyear field combinations of nutrient amendments to salt marshes were made to determine the relationship between soil strength and various nitrogen, phosphorus, and nitrogen+phosphorus loadings. There was a proportional decline in soil strength that reached 35% in the 60- to 100-cm soil layer at the highest loadings and did not level off. These loading rates are equivalent to those …

Abundance And Ecological Significance Of The Clam Rangia Cuneata (Sowerby, 1831) In The Upper Barataria Estuary (Louisiana, Usa), Wai Hing Wong, Nancy N. Rabalais, R. Eugene Turner

Faculty Publications

We proposed that Rangia cuneata (Sowerby, 1831) is an important estuarine bivalve with ecological significance in three coastal lakes in Barataria Bay, Gulf of Mexico—Lake Cataouatche, Lake Salvador and Lac des Allemands. Our goals were to determine the abundance and distribution of Rangia in these lakes and to measure clearance times to elucidate its potential impacts on phytoplankton communities. The estimated average densities of R. cuneata in Lake Cataouatche, Lake Salvador, and Lac des Allemands were 63, 157, and 107 individuals m−2, respectively, which is 30% lower than that observed in nearby Lake Pontchartrain. The size of clams in Lake …

Spatial Analyses Of Pedosphere Carbon Stock And Sequestration Potential In Louisiana's Watersheds, Biao Zhong

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation research aimed to quantify current soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks across Louisiana’s landscape, examine the spatial relationships between SOC and terrain factors at the watershed and river basin scales, and predict SOC changes in surface soils during future climate change. Using Louisiana as an example, a spatially-explicit modeling framework was developed that is conducive to watershed-scale prediction of soil carbon stock and change. SOC densities at the watershed scale were estimated using the USDA NRCS Soil Geographic Database (STATSGO). Louisiana watersheds and National Land Cover Database (NLCD) were used to aggregate total soil carbon and estimate average soil …

Speciation Of Heavy Metals In Disturbed And Undisturbed Sediments From Atchafalaya Bay, Houma Navigation Canal, And Southwest Pass, Louisiana, Amanda Jo Zimmerman

LSU Master's Theses

In coastal Louisiana it is common to use dredge spoil to build marshland that has been lost due to a variety of factors. Under various conditions such as deposition in a drained oxygenated environment, metals in the spoil can become more bioavailable posing a threat to the ecosystem. This study compares metal availability in natural and dredged sediments to determine what changes occur in nature. Forty four samples from three locations, Atchafalaya Delta, Houma Navigation Canal, and Southwest Pass, were analyzed for 13 common elements with known or potentially harmful health effects; Al, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, …

Palynological Analysis Of Tiger And Trinity Shoals, Louisiana Continental Shelf, Russell Ryan Crouch

LSU Master's Theses

Forty sediment samples taken from twenty-six vibracores collected from Holocene shoals (Tiger and Trinity) were processed for palynomorphs and analyzed to characterize the terrestrial and marine paleo-environments of southern Louisiana at the time of deposition of each shoal. Abundant and diverse pollen assemblages were recovered while marine microplankton were sparse (< 2% relative abundance). Pollen species were grouped by plants of similar environmental significances including arboreal, non-arboreal, aquatic, and shrub categories. Palynological signals were compared in detail between each core, as well as along strike and dip transects, to help determine whether or not these shoals were deposited coevally or in distinct depositional cycles. Evidence shows that Tiger and Trinity Shoals carry remarkably similar palynological profiles, indicating that sediments of these shoals areS from the same source, and that deposition extended over an interval of time such that climate change was not sufficient enough to alter the vegetation response (hence palynological signal). Pollen profiles show source sediments are predominantly from the lower Mississippi River drainage basin and exhibit species similar to those present in modern Louisiana coastal marshes and swamps (i.e., Taxodium distichum, Cyperaceae, Graminae, Chenopodiaceae, and Asteraceae), and coastal to upland hardwood forests of the Mississippi River alluvial valley (i.e., Pinus, Quercus, Carya, and Liquidambar styraciflua).

Rare Earth Elements As An Investigative Tool Into The Source, Age, And Ecology Of Late Miocene To Late Pleistocene Fossils From The Tunica Hills, Louisiana, Lindsey Theresa Yann

LSU Master's Theses

Rare earth elements were investigated for their potential to determine provenance and depositional environments of vertebrate fossils found as float in creeks of the Tunica Hills region of Louisiana. Elemental analyses are used to test the hypotheses that fossils span multiple time periods, from late Miocene to late Pleistocene, and that elemental profiles can distinguish terrestrial depositional settings from possible estuarine deposits. In addition, the animals present were then used to test the hypothesis that Tunica Hills had late Pleistocene environmental conditions much like the modern Great Lakes region. This study is important because it provides new insight on the …

The Effects Of Salinity On Nitrogen Cycling In Wetland Soils And Sediments Of The Breton Sound Estuary, La, Brett Whitfield Marks

LSU Master's Theses

Wetlands in the coastal zone are slowly becoming more saline under rising sea level over the long-term. However, there are a number of events in the coastal environment which lead to quick and temporary changes in the salinity of coastal marshes. Seawater driven inland from storm surge can significantly increase salinity in oligohaline wetlands over the short-term (weeks). Recent large-scale efforts to restore coastal wetlands in Louisiana have utilized Mississippi River surface water diversions to re-introduce freshwater into coastal marshes, decreasing the salinity of coastal marshes. We examined the effect of salinity changes on two important nitrogen cycling processes, potential …

Habitat Use, Movements And Spring Migration Chronology And Corridors Of Female Gadwalls That Winter Along The Louisiana Gulf Coast, Jacob M. Gray

LSU Master's Theses

The Louisiana Gulf Coast is an important wintering area for North American gadwall (Anas strepera). Conservation of winter habitat is a top priority of the Gulf Coast Joint Venture. Quantitative estimates of habitat use by wintering gadwall would help improve energetic demand models and subsequent estimates of habitat requirements. I used satellite telemetry (PTTs) to estimate winter habitat and refuge uses, spring migration chronology and corridors, as well as inter- and intra-regional winter movements of females. I used a split-plot MANOVA to evaluate the effects of individual females, female age, winter, hunt periods within winter, time of day, and all …

Understanding The Use Of Barrier Islands As Nesting Habitat For Louisiana Birds Of Concern, Cecilia Marie Leumas

LSU Master's Theses

Colonial nesting seabirds are threatened by habitat loss and degradation, human disturbance, predation, and climate change. Several species of conservation concern concentrate high percentages of their total U.S. populations in Louisiana breeding colonies. We studied seabirds, including Royal Terns, Sandwich Terns, and Black Skimmers, nesting on Isles Dernieres barrier islands along the Gulf coast of Louisiana. Two of the four islands in this chain host extensive seabird colonies and two do not. We used an experimental approach to test the hypothesis that large terns and skimmers are prevented from nesting on Trinity Island, the largest of the Isles Dernieres, by …

Introgression, Health, And Condition Of Florida, Northern, And Fx Hybrid Largemouth Bass In Louisiana Water Bodies, Melissa Ann Fries

LSU Master's Theses

Since 1982, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) has stocked Florida-strain largemouth bass (FLMB; Micropterus salmoides floridanus) to incorporate Florida alleles into native populations (NLMB; M. s. salmoides) and enhance recreational fishing opportunities. I collected habitat data and largemouth bass samples from 12 LDWF stocked reservoirs and disconnected oxbow lakes to examine the relationships between reservoir characteristics, genetic identity, relative weight (Wr), liver somatic index (LSI), parasite loads, and back-calculated length-at-age. I examined the relationships between water body and genetic identity with Wr, LSI, and back-calculated length-at-age by ANOVA. Parasite loads were analyzed with ordinal regression. Principle component …

Multi-Scale Habitat Associations Of Shorebirds During Spring Migration In Southwestern Louisiana Rice Fields, Rachel K. Villani

LSU Master's Theses

Rice is the most common wetland crop in the world, and important for waterbirds and shorebirds worldwide, including the United States. In Louisiana, shorebirds use rice fields during spring migration, and are an important for foraging and refueling during migration. However, competing land uses and restoration projects may reduce the availability of rice fields, and impact the landscape that shorebirds use during migration. To determine how shorebirds use the landscape, I evaluated local and landscape factors affecting shorebird use of rice fields during spring migration in southwestern Louisiana. Using five habitat suitability zones (HSZs) based on rice density and canopy …

Doubt And The Values Of An Ignorance-Based World View For Restoration: Coastal Louisiana Wetlands, R. Eugene Turner

Faculty Publications

Embracing doubt, a signature strength of science, is an essential core component of an ignorance-based-world view (IBWV) that assumes the areas of certainty are small relative to the large field of ignorance. The contrasting knowledge-based world view (KBWV) assumes that small and mostly insignificant knowledge gaps exist. When the KBWV is combined with a sense of urgency to “do something,” then the intellectual landscape is flattened, the introduction of new ideas is impeded, monitoring and adaptive management is marginalized, risky behaviors continue, and social learning is restricted. The history of three coastal Louisiana land-uses (agricultural impoundment, marsh management, and dredging) …

Applying The Isotope Pairing Technique To Evaluate How Water Temperature And Habitat Type Influence Denitrification Estimates In Breton Sound, Louisiana, Peter L. Lenaker

LSU Master's Theses

The upper Breton Sound estuary was hydrologically reconnected to the Mississippi River via the Caernarvon freshwater diversion structure in 1991. The Caernarvon structure can provide controlled freshwater pulses to the upper Breton Sound estuarine ecosystem, replicating historic freshwater pulsed events, although the original authorization was to control salinity isohalines at specific locations in the estuary. However, unlike historic freshwater pulsed events prior to the construction of levees, the current freshwater pulse contains an unprecedented amount of inorganic nitrogen, predominately as nitrate (annual average 71.4 µM NO3-). Denitrification is a microbial process, which can potentially remove excess nitrate entering coastal Louisiana …

Storm Surge Dynamics Over Wide Continental Shelves: Numerical Experiments Using The Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model, Joao Lima Rego

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Storm surge is an abnormal rise of the sea surface caused by atmospheric forcing, including the wind stress and atmospheric pressure associated with extra-tropical and tropical cyclones. Hurricanes and typhoons have a great impact on coastal regions, and can cause severe loss of lives and great damages. A systematic investigation of storm surge impact to the coasts of Louisiana and Texas, where the continental shelf reaches up to 200 km in width, is conducted here using the hydrodynamics Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model, FVCOM (Chen et al., 2003). The model is applied to the northern Gulf of Mexico to simulate the …

Restoration Of Dredged Canals In Wetlands: A Comparison Of Methods, Joseph Baustian, R. Eugene Turner, Nancy F. Walters, David P. Muth

Faculty Publications

A comparison of two methods for restoring dredged canals to wetlands was examined at the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve’s Barataria Preserve Unit near New Orleans, LA. Both northern and southern canals had the remnant dredged spoil material returned to the canal, but the southern canal had additional sediment pumped in from a nearby lake. The water depth in the southern canal shallowed significantly from 1.2 to 0.4 m following backfilling and sediment addition, while the depth of the northern canal (which received no additional sediment) remained unchanged following backfilling. Neither site had complete soil restoration, but the …

Hurricane Katrina, 2005 (Sc 1669), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1669. E-mails related to the personal and governmental response to Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana.

Below- And Aboveground Biomass Of Spartina Alterniflora: Response To Nutrient Addition In A Louisiana Salt Marsh, Faith A. Darby, R. Eugene Turner

Faculty Publications

The responses of Spartina alterniflora above- and belowground biomass to various combinations of N, P, and Fe were documented in a 1-year field experiment in a Louisiana salt marsh. Five levels of N additions to 0.25 m2 plots resulted in 18% to 138% more live aboveground biomass compared to the control plots and higher stem densities, but had no effect on the amount of live belowground biomass (roots and rhizomes; R&R). There was no change in the aboveground biomass when P or Fe was added as part of a factorial experiment of +P, +N, and +Fe additions, but there was …

Influence Of Fipronil Compounds And Rice-Cultivation Land-Use Intensity On Macroinvertebrate Communities In Streams Of Southwestern Louisiana, Usa, Scott V. Mize, Stephen D. Porter, Dennis K. Demcheck

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Laboratory tests of fipronil and its degradation products have revealed acute lethal toxicity at very low concentrations (LC₅₀) of <0.5 μg/L to selected aquatic macroinvertebrates. In streams draining basins with intensive rice cultivation in southwestern Louisiana, USA, concentrations of fipronil compounds were an order of magnitude larger than the LC₅₀. The abundance (p=-0.64; p=0.015) and taxa richness (r²=0.515, p<0.005) of macroinvertebrate communities declined significantly with increases in concentrations of fipronil compounds and rice-cultivation land-use intensity. Macroinvertebrate community tolerance scores increased linearly (r²=0.442, p < 0.005) with increases in the percentage of rice cultivation in the basins, indicating increasingly degraded stream conditions. Similarly, macroinvertebrate community-tolerance scores increased rapidly as fipronil concentrations approached about 1 μg/L. Pesticide toxicity index determinations indicated that aquatic macroinvertebrates respond to a gradient of fipronil compounds in water although stream size and habitat cannot be ruled out as contributing influences.

Effects Of Aversive Conditioning On Behavior Of Nuisance Louisiana Black Bears, Jennifer Leigh, Michael J. Chamberlain

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Complaints associated with nuisance activity by Louisiana black bears (Ursus americanus luteolus) in south Louisiana have steadily increased since 2000, demanding intervention by state and federal agencies. As a federally threatened species, Louisiana black bears that are a nuisance require nonlethal management, referred to as aversive conditioning. We used rubber buckshot and dogs to test the effectiveness of management techniques used by the state of Louisiana to deter nuisance bear activity. We captured 11 bears in residential and industrial areas where nuisance bear activity was reported. We fitted bears with radio-transmitting collars and released them within 2 km …

The Future Of Mineral Development On Federal Lands In The United States, John D. Leshy

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

11 pages.

Includes bibliographical references

"Outline of presentation of John D. Leshy, Harry D. Sunderland Distinguished Professor, U.C. Hastings College of the Law, Natural Resources Law center, June 7, 2007" (pp. 3-5)

"Leshy draft 4.27.07 For Natural Resources Law Center" (pp. 6-13)

Survival, Habitat Use, And Movements Of Female Mallards Wintering In Southwestern Louisiana, Paul Thomas Link

LSU Master's Theses

Little information is available concerning survival, habitat use, and movements of mallards (Anas platyrhychos) wintering on the Gulf Coast Chenier Plain (GCCP). Quantitative data on these parameters would be useful in making effective management decisions by GCCP waterfowl managers. Accordingly, I radio-marked 135 female mallards during winters 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 in southwestern Louisiana. My estimated survival rate for both winters combined was 0.68 ± 0.06 and did not differ by female age. Hazard ratios indicated that radio-marked females were 21-24 times more likely to die during hunted time periods than during non-hunted time periods. Estimated hunting and non-hunting mortality rates …

The Hydrology And Sediment Transport Of Low-Gradient, Forested Headwater Streams, Philip Saksa

LSU Master's Theses

Understanding stream hydrology of headwater regions is critical in effective land management for downstream water quantity and quality. Although extensive research has been performed on headwater streams in topographically variable areas, fewer studies examine low-gradient headwater stream systems, such as those existing on much of the southeastern coastal plain. This study aims to investigate spatial and temporal variation of headwater stream hydrology in a low-gradient forested watershed, quantify mass loading of suspended and dissolved solids in the watershed, and assess the applicability of a spatially distributed model in predicting hydrologic responses of a flat terrain landscape. Stream discharge and sediments …