LOUISIANA NATURAL AREAS REGISTRY Q u a r t e r l y N e w s l e t t e r December 2009 Volume 7 Number 2 of 4 Working with landowners towards conservation of Louisiana’s ecologically sensitive lands http//www.Louisiana.gov/experience/natural heritage/naturalareasregistry/ Can you name this flower? See Page 6 for answer. NATURAL AREAS UPDATE They are considered together here due to their floristic similarity Amity Bass has joined the and/or similarity in management needs.) Louisiana Natural Cypress‐Tupelo‐Blackgum Swamps throughout the natural range are Heritage Program staff as forested alluvial swamps growing on intermittently exposed soils our new Community most commonly along rivers and streams but also occurring in back Ecologist. She is a native swamp depressions and swales. The soils are inundated or saturated of West Monroe in by surface water or ground water on a nearly permanent basis northeast Louisiana. throughout the growing season except during periods of extreme Amity received her drought. However, even deepwater swamps, with almost Bachelors in Biology from continuous flooding, experience seasonal fluctuations in water levels the University of (LNHP 1986‐2004). Baldcypress swamps generally occur on mucks Louisiana at Monroe and clays, and also silts and sands with underlying clay layers (ULM) in 2005 and her (Alfisols, Entisols, Histosols, and Inceptisols) (Conner and Buford undergraduate work 1998). focused on the nesting ecology of turtles on sandbars and Cypress‐Tupelo‐Blackgum swamps have relatively low floristic herpetofaunal (study of reptiles and amphibians) surveys on state diversity. Taxodium distichum (baldcypress) and Nyssa aquatica wildlife management areas. Amity is using telemetry in the photo (tupelo gum) are co‐dominants. Common associates are Nyssa above to track Alligator Snapping Turtles in the swamps of Black sylvatica variable biflora (swamp blackgum), Acer rubrum variable Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge. She received her Masters in drummondii (swamp red maple), Salix nigra (black willow), Fraxinus Biology from ULM in 2007 and her graduate work focused on habitat profunda (pumpkin ash), F. pennsylvanica (green ash), Planera aquatica use of alligator snapping turtles. Amity came to work for the (water elm), Gleditsia aquatica (water locust), Itea virginica (Virginia Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in 2007 as a Private willow), and Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush). Composition of Lands Biologist in the Wildlife Division where she worked in the associate species may vary widely from site to site. Undergrowth is Mississippi Alluvial Valley providing wildlife and habitat often sparse because of low light intensity and long hydroperiod. management assistance to private landowners. ♣ Neither baldcypress nor tupelo gum seeds germinate underwater, Plant Community CYPRESS-TUPELO SWAMP Three Registered Natural Areas occur in this plant community located in East Baton Rouge, West Feliciana, and Winn Parishes. Photo at right is Coochie Brake Natural Area on Kisatchie National Forest in Winn Parish. Rarity Rank: S4 – apparently secure in Louisiana G3G5 – Globally very rare to demonstrably secure Synonyms: Freshwater Swamp Brake, Swamp Forest, Cypress Slough General Description: (Note: Baldcypress Swamp (S4), Baldcypress‐Tupelo Swamp (S4), Tupelo‐Blackgum Swamp (S4), Pondcypress/Blackgum Swamp (S1), Scrub/Shrub Swamp (S4S5), and Shrub Swamp (S4S5) are described as distinct communities in the LNHP Natural Communities of Louisiana. December 2009 - 1 - Volume 7 Number 2 of 4 nor can young seedlings ownership. Louisiana State Parks including Chicot, CYPRESS – TUPELO - BLACKGUM SWAMP of these trees survive Lake Fausse Pointe, Tickfaw, and Bogue Chitto SPECIES OF CONSERVATION CONCERN (18) long submergence. provide some small refuge for Louisiana’s swamps. AMPHIBIANS Kentucky Warbler A total of 4,400 acres of combined swamps and Establishment of young Southern Dusky Salamander Hooded Warbler trees can only occur BIRDS BUTTERFLIES bottomland hardwood forests are registered with the during periods of Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 'Seminole' Texan Crescent Louisiana Natural Areas Registry Program. And exceptionally long Wood Stork MAMMALS finally, there are a few scattered local community Swallow-tailed Kite Southeastern Shrew drought. This probably parks containing swamps throughout the state such Bald Eagle Southeastern Myotis as Baton Rouge’s small 65 acre Bluebonnet swamp explains why these Yellow-billed Cuckoo Louisiana Black Bear operated by Recreation and Park Commission for the species tend to occur in Yellow-throated Vireo Long-tailed Weasel even‐aged stands since Northern Parula Parish of East Baton Rouge. the environmental Prothonotary Warbler REPTILES All of Louisiana’s swamps are threatened by land conditions favorable for Swainson's Warbler Alligator Snapping Turtle loss and encroaching interests, however, the swamps germination and establishment of saplings occur very infrequently. of the lower Mississippi River Alluvial Plain in south central and Those areas dominated by tupelo and baldgum are also alluvial but southeastern Louisiana face additional peril from subsidence, altered occur on higher topographic positions than baldcypress dominated hydrology, coastal erosion, and saltwater intrusion. All of these swamps. Baldcypress is a common associate, along with Quercus factors combine to promote rapid loss and prevent adequate laurifolia (laurel oak), Leucothoe racemosa (leucothoe), Cyrilla racemiflora regeneration of these swamps. (swamp cyrilla), and Cornus foemina (swamp dogwood). Taxodium References: ascendens (pondcypress), along with swamp blackgum dominate a CONNER, W. H., AND M. A. BUFORD. 1998. Southern deepwater limited number of swamps making this natural community rare in swamps. Pages 261-287 in Southern Forested Wetlands, Ecology Louisiana. This type seems to be confined to areas along the lower and Management. M. G. Messina and W. H. Conner, editors. CRC Pearl River, and adjoining the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain and Press, Boca Raton, FL. Lake Maurepas (Smith 1999). Pondcypress/Blackgum swamps COULSON, J. O. 2004. Identifying swallow-tailed kite activity centers: determining use of the state of Louisiana managed lands. Final appear to occupy the backwater portions of larger swamplands, in report. Report to Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, places much removed from active stream channels. They are related Baton Rouge, LA. to and often grade into baldcypress swamps more influenced by river GOVERNOR’S SCIENCE WORKING GROUP ON COASTAL WETLAND FOREST flooding (Smith 1999). CONSERVATION AND USE. 2005. Conservation, Protection and Current Extent and Status: Cypress‐tupelo‐blackgum swamps may Utilization of Louisiana’s Coastal Wetland Forests: Final Report to the be found throughout Louisiana, and sizeable areas of swamp still Governor. Baton Rouge, LA. remain, even though the historic extent is considerably reduced. LNHP. 1986-2004. The natural communities of Louisiana. Louisiana Statewide estimates of swamp loss range from 25 to 50 % of the Natural Heritage Program, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Baton Rouge, LA. original presettlement acreage and old‐growth examples are very NATURESERVE. 2005. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia rare (Smith 1993, The Nature Conservancy 2004). The Atchafalaya of life [web application]. Version 4.2. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Basin Floodway contains the greatest remaining contiguous acreage http://www.natureserve.org/explorer. (Accessed: March 10, 2005 ). in the United States with an estimated 595,000 acres of collective SMITH, L. M. 1993. Estimated presettlement and current acres of swamp and bottomland hardwoods, the majority of which is natural plant communities in Louisiana. Louisiana Natural Heritage privately owned. Large tracts also occur on some state Louisiana Program, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Baton Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Wildlife Management Rouge, LA. Areas (WMAs) with an estimated total of 97,107 acres, United States SMITH, L. M 1999. Historic vegetation of the Florida Parishes. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) National Wildlife Refuges Louisiana Natural Heritage Program, Louisiana Department of (NWRs) such as Cat Island, and properties under the administration Wildlife and Fisheries, Baton Rouge, LA. of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Some of THE NATURE CONSERVANCY. 2004. Conservation area plan for the these large swamp tracts occur in Louisiana’s East Gulf Coastal Plain Pearl River. Submitted to Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, CFMS Cooperative Agreement No.583066. The Nature and are contained within the Bogue Chitto NWR and Pearl River Conservancy, Pearl River Field Office, New Orleans, LA. ♣ WMA. The lower Tangipahoa River in Tangipahoa Parish, as well as, the Tickfaw and Amite Rivers in Livingston Associated Plant Parish and lands surrounding Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas also support Species large remaining tracts of cypress‐tupelo‐ CYPRESS-KNEE blackgum swamps (approximately 213,000 SEDGE acres) (Governor’s Science Working Group on Coastal Wetland Forest Conservation and Use Carex decomposita 2005). Approximately 50 percent of these Sedge Family (Cyperaceae) swamps fall on state Wildlife Management Rarity Rank: S3 – Rare in Louisiana G3 – Globally very Areas (Joyce, Maurepas, and Manchac), and rare the other half are primarily privately owned. Range: Occurs in much of the eastern