Identifying Baldcypress-Water Tupelo Regeneration Classes in Forested Wetlands of the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana

• Published in: Wetlands (Wilmington, N.C.) Vol. 29; no. 3; pp. 809 - 817
• Main Authors: Faulkner, Stephen P., Bhattarai, Prajwol, Allen, Yvonne, Barras, John, Constant, Glenn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 1313 Dolley Madison Boulevard, Suite 402, McLean, Virginia, USA 22101 The Society of Wetland Scientists 01.09.2009; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Atchafalaya Basin; Bears; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Brackish; classification; Coastal Sciences; Ecology; Ecosystem services; Environmental impact; Environmental Management; flooded conditions; Flooding; Floodways; forest regeneration; Forested wetlands; Forests; Freshwater; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Growing season; hardwood forests; Hydrogeology; Hydrologic data; Hydrologic regime; hydrology; Landsat; Landscape Ecology; Life Sciences; Logging; lowland forests; Nyssa aquatica; Regeneration; Remote sensing; spatial data; spatial distribution; Surface water; Survival; Swamps; Taxodium distichum; Wetlands; Wildlife habitats; Louisiana; Atchafalaya Basin; United States > US; ASW, USA, Louisiana, Atchafalaya Basin; ASW, USA, Louisiana; remote sensing; hydrology; swamps; Landsat
• ISSN: 0277-5212; 1943-6246
• DOI: 10.1672/08-211.1

Baldcypress-water tupelo (cypress-tupelo) swamps are critically important coastal forested wetlands found throughout the southeastern U.S. The long-term survival and sustainability of these swamp forests is unknown due to large-scale changes in hydrologic regimes that prevent natural regeneration following logging or mortality. We used NWI wetland maps and remotely sensed hydrologic data to map cypress-tupelo communities, surface water, and the extent and location of proposed regeneration condition classes for cypress-tupelo swamps in the Atchafalaya Basin, LA. Only 6,175 ha (5.8%) of the 106,227 ha of cypress-tupelo forest in the Lower Atchafalaya Basin Floodway was classified as capable of naturally regenerating. Over 23% (24,525 ha) of the forest area was mapped as unable to regenerate either naturally or artificially. The loss and conversion of nearly 25,000 ha of cypress-tupelo forest would have significant and long-lasting impacts on ecosystem services such as wildlife habitat for birds and Louisiana black bears. Given the landscape-scale changes in surface elevations and flooding depths and durations throughout southern Louisiana, similar conditions and impacts are likely applicable to all coastal cypress-tupelo forests in Louisiana. Better data on flooding during the growing season are needed to more accurately identify and refine the location and spatial extent of the regeneration condition classes.