Mississippi Delta restoration: pathways to a Sustainable Future
In: Estuaries of the world
Intro -- Foreword -- Preface to the Day and Erdman Text -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Contributors -- Introduction - Changing Conditions in the Mississippi Delta from 1700 to 2100 and Beyond: Avoiding Folly -- No Living Memory - Paradise Lost -- Background for This Book -- Perspectives on the Restoration of the Mississippi Delta -- Changing Course: A Bold and Pragmatic Future -- Context of the Competition -- The Future Is Now -- References -- A Brief History of Delta Formation and Deterioration -- Formation of the Mississippi Delta -- Deterioration of the Mississippi Delta -- Mississippi River Water Quality Changes and Offshore Hypoxia -- Wetland Loss in the Twentieth Century -- Hydrologic Alteration -- Human Induced Subsidence -- Sea-Level Rise -- Long-Term Water Level Cycles -- Species Conversion as a Measure of Climate Change -- References -- Levees and the Making of a Dysfunctional Floodplain -- The Levee Compulsion, 1718-1927 -- Controlled Connections for Flood Control -- Restoring Connections to Wetlands -- Conclusions -- References -- The Nutria in Louisiana: A Current and Historical Perspective -- Nutria in Louisiana Wetlands: A Current and Historical Perspective -- Introduction -- A Short History of the Nutria in Louisiana -- Reproductive Potential of Nutria -- Movements, Home Range, Dispersal -- Habitat Preferences -- Food Selection -- Nutria Grazing Impacts to Coastal Louisiana Wetlands -- Nutria Biomass Consumption Relative to Marsh Production -- Historical Nutria Abundance Estimates -- Contemporary Harvest of Nutria as an Indication of Abundance -- Habitat Type -- Region -- Methods to Control Nutria Populations -- Nutria Population Control at Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge -- Coastwide Nutria Control Program -- CNCP Nutria-Damaged Marsh Distribution -- CNCP Program Success