Preface: an overview of the Atchafalaya River

Ford, Mark; Nyman, John A.

doi:10.1007/s10750-010-0469-3

Cited by 24 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(12 reference statements)

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“…The ARB is located in south‐central Louisiana and comprises the largest contiguous river–floodplain swamps in the USA (Ford and Nyman, ). The floodplain is composed predominately of bottomland and upland hardwood forests, bayous, lakes and man‐made canals, which were created for industrial access to timber, oil and natural gas.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing the Flood Pulse for Optimal Fisheries Production in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana (Usa)

Alford

Walker

2011

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The Atchafalaya River Basin in south-central Louisiana (USA) comprises the largest contiguous river-floodplain swamp in North America and functions as a distributary for the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. We assessed the impact of the annual flood pulse on fisheries production at a basin-wide scale. We modelled flood duration (days/year Butte LaRose gauge height >3.6 m) and magnitude (mean daily gauge height) against long term ) fishery-independent and fishery-dependent data on largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), crappie (Pomoxis spp.), blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus), buffalofish (Ictiobus spp.), gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) and crayfish (Procambarus spp.). When the Atchafalaya River at Butte LaRose is at flood stage (≥ 3.6 m gauge height) for approximately 121-157 days/year, then annual relative abundances of largemouth bass, crappie, blue catfish and buffalofish are optimized during the fall (October-December). In contrast to the tenets of the flood pulse concept, gizzard shad abundance was optimized during low flow years, when flood duration is ≤10 days/year. Annual proportion of age-1 largemouth bass was associated positively with flow magnitude during the previous year, whereas proportions of age-2 largemouth bass and crappie were associated positively with flood magnitude 2 years prior to the fish sample. Results for commercial production metrics were ambiguous. Crayfish catches were associated positively with flood magnitude and duration, whereas gizzard shad landings peaked at a relatively small flood magnitude level and were not related to flood duration. Blue catfish and buffalofish annual landings were not influenced by the annual flood pulse. The annual flood pulse can be managed to optimize the availability of recreational (largemouth bass and crappie) and some commercial fisheries resources (blue catfish and crayfish). We estimate that a minimum discharge of 8807 m 3 s À1 is required at the river's source for approximately 4-5 months during the winter-spring months to optimize fisheries production. Figure 1. The Atchafalaya River Basin showing the study area and sample locations for the electrofishing, gill net and commercial crayfisher creel surveys. This figure is available in color online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/rra MANAGING FLOODS TO OPTIMIZE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN FISHERIES Only stock-size fish were included (TL ≥ 200 mm for largemouth bass and 150 mm for crappie). b All buffalo species (Ictiobus spp.) were included. MANAGING FLOODS TO OPTIMIZE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN FISHERIES 283

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing the Flood Pulse for Optimal Fisheries Production in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana (Usa)

Alford

Walker

2011

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“…Study site.-The Atchafalaya River Floodway system is located in south-central Louisiana and includes the Atchafalaya River floodplain, which is composed of seasonally and permanently flooded channels, lakes, bayous, and the largest contiguously forested bottomland swamp in North America (Ford and Nyman 2011). Within the Atchafalaya River Floodway system, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has defined water management units (WMUs) for restoration and conservation efforts, including the 29,000ha Henderson WMU (Kaller et al 2011;Atchafalaya Basin Program 2013).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of Continuous versus Point Electrofishing for Fish Assemblage Assessment in Shallow, Turbid Aquatic Habitats

Trumbo

Kaller²,

Harlan³

et al. 2016

N American J Fish Manag

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We evaluated the relative effectiveness of continuous versus point electrofishing methods for describing fish assemblage metrics in the lower Atchafalaya River Floodway system, Louisiana. Continuous data were collected by boat electrofishing opposing shores of a 100‐m reach for a total of 480 s. Point data were collected in an adjacent 100‐m reach by boat electrofishing for 60 s at four points (240 s total) at 25‐m intervals on alternating shorelines. We tested for significant differences between the methods with a linear model for species richness and CPUE (fish/min) and a generalized linear model for species diversity. We also compared the length frequencies of Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides between methods. We found no difference in diversity between methods but significantly higher species richness (mean = 1.46 species) and significantly lower CPUE (mean = −24.63 fish/min) for continuous electrofishing. We found no difference in Largemouth Bass length frequency between methods, but point electrofishing captured more individuals between 300 and 400 mm. Our results indicate that point electrofishing may be an efficient, effective technique for capturing target species and larger individuals that may otherwise avoid capture. When coupled with continuous electrofishing, point electrofishing may bolster assemblage and population size structure data, particularly in shallow, turbid environments. Received July 9, 2014; accepted December 8, 2015 Published online March 31, 2016

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“…The ARB is located in south‐central Louisiana (Figure ) and contains the largest contiguous area of bottomland hardwood forest in the USA, along with cypress–tupelo swamps, lakes, marshes, bayous, and man‐made canals (Ford and Nyman, ). The Atchafalaya River is the largest distributary of the Mississippi River, and, following the devastating flood of 1927, it became a principal floodway of the Mississippi River & Tributaries Project.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Estimate of Basin‐Wide Denitrification Based on Floodplain Inundation in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana

Bennett

Fritz

Hayden-Lesmeister

et al. 2014

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Maximizing the reduction of nitrate to dinitrogen gas (denitrification) has been advocated as a means to decrease nitrate pollution that causes eutrophication and hypoxia in estuaries worldwide. Managing this flux in bottomland forest wetlands of the Mississippi River could potentially reduce the world's second largest hypoxic zone. We used published denitrification rates, geospatial data on habitat area and inundation frequency, water level records , and average monthly temperatures to estimate annual denitrification in the Atchafalaya River Basin, the principal distributary of the Mississippi River. Denitrification rates ranged from 5394 kg N year À1 (3.07 kg N km À2 year À1 ) in 1988 to 17 420 kg N year À1 (9.92 kg N km À2 year À1 ) in 1981, and rates were consistently higher in fall compared with those in spring. Total NO 3 À denitrified in the basin was negligible compared with total NO 3 À entering the Gulf of Mexico. If all N denitrified in the basin instead entered the Gulf, the hypoxic zone was predicted to increase only 5.07 km 2 (0.06%). This negligible effect of the basin on N dynamics in the Gulf agrees with other mass balance and isotopic studies in the region.

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Preface: an overview of the Atchafalaya River

Cited by 24 publications

References 12 publications

Managing the Flood Pulse for Optimal Fisheries Production in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana (Usa)

Managing the Flood Pulse for Optimal Fisheries Production in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana (Usa)

Effectiveness of Continuous versus Point Electrofishing for Fish Assemblage Assessment in Shallow, Turbid Aquatic Habitats

An Estimate of Basin‐Wide Denitrification Based on Floodplain Inundation in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana

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