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The Pattern and Process of Land Loss in Coastal Louisiana: a Landscape Ecological Analysis Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1989 The aP ttern and Process of Land Loss in Coastal Louisiana: A Landscape Ecological Analysis. Scott .G Leibowitz Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Leibowitz, Scott .,G "The aP ttern and Process of Land Loss in Coastal Louisiana: A Landscape Ecological Analysis." (1989). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 4729. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/4729 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photo­ graph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are re­ produced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. These are also available as one exposure on a standard 35mm slide or as a 17" x 23" black and white photographic print for an additional charge. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Z eeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Number 9002156 The pattern and process of land loss in coastal Louisiana: A landscape ecological analysis Leibowitz, Scott G., Ph.D. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Col., 1989 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Pattern and Process of Land Loss in Coastal Louisiana: A Landscape Ecological Analysis A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Marine Sciences by Scott G. Leibowitz B.S., Cornell University, 1978 M.S., University of Florida, 1980 May 1989 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To my parents, Sylvia and Seymour Leibowitz, who have always believed in me, even during the most trying of times, and who gave me the freedom to explore. This dissertation is a manifestation of their love and encouragement. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgments Producing a dissertation requires the help and cooperation of a large number of people, and I hope I acknowledge all those who have contributed to this work. First and foremost, I would like to thank my committee: Dr. Robert Costanza (major professor), Dr. James M. Coleman, Dr. James G. Gosselink, Dr. Charles A. Harlow (minor professor), Dr. John M. Hill, and Dr. Irving A. Mendelssohn. They have all provided valuable comments and helped point out important areas that I had neglected. I feel very fortunate to have had such a high caliber review board. I would also like to thank Dr. Quentin Jenkins and Professor Joseph Popadic, who served as outside members during my general and final exams, respectively. The digital data were provided to me by James "Bo" Blackmon of the Coastal Management Division of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. DeWitt Braud and Henry Streiffer, of Decision Associates, Inc., did the actual grunt work, gridding the data and producing the tapes. Elaine Evers, of the Center for Wetland Resources at LSU, was invaluable in helping me clean up and edit the data. Dr. Karen Wicker, of Coastal Environments, Inc., and James Scurry and Floyd Stayner, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, provided useful information on how the data were produced. In developing the statistical methodology for this study, I went through nearly everyone in the Department of Experimental Statistics. Drs. David Blouin, James Geaghan, Charles Monlezun, Bany Moser, Arnold Saxton, Gary Shaffer, and William Warren all consulted with me. I would especially like to thank Dr. Moser, who gave me a great deal of his own time, often on short notice, and provided many useful suggestions. My good friend, Francisco "Tito" Vilella, was also kind enough to take time out from writing his own dissertation to help me with some of the statistics. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I would have not have been able to perform the image processing and much of the programming without assistance from Don "Unix is the Way" DiRosa and Keven "Bud" Marshall, of the Remote Sensing and Image Processing Lab (RSIP). Seeing their finesse and expertise in software development has been a most humbling experience. I hope I have absorbed some of their knowledge while I was at RSIP. Mrs. Gerry Newman, the Marine Sciences departmental secretary (and the real brains behind the outfit), deserves a tremendous amount of credit for putting up with my unique way of dealing with the system, and for helping me manage the bureaucracy. Getting me graduated may be the crowning achievement of her career, and I am sure it will be a big load off of her mind. An early version of Chapter 1 appeared in Leibowitz et al. (1988). Some of the discussion on spatial models (Chapter 2) and Appendix I is from Leibowitz (1988). Initial results (Chapter 3) appeared in Leibowitz and Hill (1988); however, all results have been updated and added to, and this dissertation supercedes the latter report. This research was partially funded as a part of "Outer Continental Shelf Development and Potential Coastal Habitat Alteration," contract no. 14-12-0001- 30252, Minerals Management Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. I am grateful to Dr. Charles Harlow, Director, for making available to me the facilities of the RSIP lab. I am also indebted to my cousin, Deborah Ehrlich, for helping with some of the finances while I worked on my degree. The production of a dissertation is not only an affair of the mind, but also of the heart. The main "heart" behind this one has been my wife, Nancy Leibowitz, who has given me continuous love and support throughout this ordeal. It has been a difficult time for both of us, and I would have faltered long ago without her encouragement. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Dedication ........................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................v List of Tables .................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures .....................................................................................................................x List of Symbols ................................................................................................................xiv Abstract .............................................................................................................................xvi Chapter 1: Introduction - Land Loss in Coastal Louisiana ............................................. 1 Overview .........................................................................................................................1 Environmental Setting ................................................................................................... 6 The Delta Cycle ........................................................................................................ 6 Human Impacts in the Coastal Zone .......................................................................
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