Abstract
This study evaluates the importance of overflow areas to the biological productivity of a bottomland hardwood swamp in the Henderson Lake area of the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana. Adult fishes, young-of-year Largemouth bass, crawfish, and zooplankton were monitored through a one year water cycle. Data from these collections were analyzed along with selected physical/chemical data to determine the extent that flooded woods areas of the swamp were utilized by the aquatic biota. The flooded woods habitat was the primary area utilized by fish and crawfish for spawning and as a nursery ground. Large concentrations of zooplankton and crawfish were available as a food resource for young-of-year and adult fish at the ephemeral edge habitat. Because of fluctuating water levels, this moving edge represented a large areal portion of the basin, suggesting the importance of flooded woods habitat to the aquatic biota. It is suggested that artificial reduction in the extent or duration of flooding of woods habitats will ultimately adversely affect the fishery and crawfish industries. Future management decisions regarding the disposition of Louisiana wetlands should be based upon careful consideration of the potential loss of these fisheries, and this loss weighted against the advantages of swamp drainage or alteration in flooding regimes.
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This article was published in Wetlands, Vol. 2 without the accompanying tables and figures. It is reprinted in this volume in its entirety.
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Pollard, J.E., Melancon, S.M. & Blakey, L.S. Importance of bottomland hardwoods to crawfish and fish in the Henderson Lake area, Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana. Wetlands 3, 1–25 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03160728
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03160728