A Review of 50 Years of Study of Hydrology, Wetland Dynamics, Aquatic Metabolism, Water Quality and Trophic Status, and Nutrient Biogeochemistry in the Barataria Basin, Mississippi Delta—System Functioning, Human Impacts and Restoration Approaches

Here we review an extensive series of studies of Barataria Basin, an economically and ecologically important coastal basin of the Mississippi Delta. Human activity has greatly altered the hydrology of the basin by decreasing riverine inflows from leveeing of the river and its distributaries, increas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water (Basel) 2021-03, Vol.13 (5), p.642
Main Authors: Day, John, Conner, William, DeLaune, Ronald, Hopkinson, Charles, Hunter, Rachael, Shaffer, Gary, Kandalepas, Demetra, Keim, Richard, Kemp, G., Lane, Robert, Rivera-Monroy, Victor, Sasser, Charles, R. White, John, Vargas-Lopez, Ivan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Analysis
Barrier islands
Basins
Bayous
Biogeochemistry
Channeling
Channelization
Coastal ecology
Deltas
Dredging
Eutrophication
Flooding
Floods
Flow paths
Fluvial sediments
Forested wetlands
Human influences
Hydrology
Levees & battures
Metabolism
Nutrient concentrations
Nutrient dynamics
Nutrient status
Physiological aspects
Primary production
Productivity
Reviews
Rivers
Runoff
Sediments
Sediments (Geology)
Soil erosion
Trophic levels
Trophic status
Water levels
Water quality
Waterways
Wetlands
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Summary:Here we review an extensive series of studies of Barataria Basin, an economically and ecologically important coastal basin of the Mississippi Delta. Human activity has greatly altered the hydrology of the basin by decreasing riverine inflows from leveeing of the river and its distributaries, increasing runoff with high nutrient concentrations from agricultural fields, and channelization of wetlands of the basin interior that has altered flow paths to often bypass wetlands. This has resulted in degraded water quality in the upper basin and wetland loss in the lower basin. Trophic state analysis found the upper basin to be eutrophic and the lower basin to be mesotrophic. Gross aquatic primary production (GAPP) was highest in the upper basin, lowest in the mid basin, and intermediate in the lower basin. Forested wetlands in the upper basin have degraded over the past several decades due to increased periods of flooding, while there has been massive loss of emergent wetlands in the lower basin due to increasing water levels and pervasive alteration of hydrology. Restoration will entail reconnection of waterways with surrounding wetlands in the upper basin, and implementation of river sediment diversions, marsh creation using dredged sediments and barrier island restoration. Findings from this review are discussed in terms of the functioning of deltas globally.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w13050642