Effects of Season and Marsh Management on Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in Coastal Louisiana Brackish Marsh Ponds

摘要

Much time and many resources are spent managing coastal wetlands for the roughly four million waterfowl that winter in Louisiana marshes (Boesch and others 1994, Michot 1996). Waterfowl managers in coastal Louisiana often aim to increase submergent aquatic vegetation (SAV) abundance to support more waterfowl because duck populations in winter are believed to be food limited (Esslinger and Wilson 2001). Management of marshes with fixed-crest weirs increases SAV by minimizing fluctuations in salinity, water levels, and turbidity (Larrick and Chabreck 1976), but the effect of weirs varies from year to year (Nyman and Chabreck 1996).