By Phu Ho
The Mississippi River run offs and seawater erosion are
threatening Louisiana wildlife and seafood industry. The great amount of run offs from the
Mississippi River creates the Dead Zone, an oxygen deprived area in the Gulf of
Mexico. The Dead Zone is the size of
Connecticut and it’s killing off fish, oysters, shrimp, and other sea life;
costing Louisiana fishing industry and tourism $82 million dollar per year. Sediment from the Mississippi River run offs
is threatening to bury oyster beds. As
seawater rises, it eats away the Louisiana shoreline, barrier islands, and
wetland. To battle problems stemming from the Mississippi River and seawater,
Louisiana has created the Louisiana 2017 Coastal Master Plan, comprising over
100 projects designed to protect and restore Louisiana. The plan is funded by a $50 billion dollar
proposal for a period of 50 years. What if I told you there is a way to fight
erosion problems for $3,000 dollars? Are you interested?
According
to Sarah Mack, president and CEO of Tierra Resource, planting 1 acre of
mangrove by helicopter would only cost $3,000 dollars. By planting mangrove trees in strategic
places like riverbanks, in wetlands, on coastline, and around barrier islands
can prevent erosion, contribute to land building, and creating habitats for
wildlife. Having mangrove along the
Mississippi River banks would prevent erosion of the riverbank by running
water. Growing mangrove forests in the
wetlands would trap sediment for land building, minimize nutrient run off that
feeds the Dead Zone, and prevent sediment from burying oyster beds and coral
reefs. Mangrove trees can keep the salinity
of the wetlands low from incoming saltwater brought in by waves and ships’ bow
water. Due to the mangrove’s salt
tolerance, it’s ideal for planting on the coastal shore and around the barrier
islands, so that they don’t erode away. In
addition, mangrove trees can provide nesting habitat for birds. Their root
system can provide estuary for crabs, muscle, shrimp, and fish. When the roots die, they provide peat that
aren’t easily erode away, thus contributes to land building. The leaves and
fruits are food to a variety of animals, including crabs, shrimp and crawfish.
By increasing the amount of food and habitat for wildlife, the amount of sea
life harvest by the seafood industry would also be increase. Steven Victor and his research group study of
mangrove in Micronesia reported that mangrove forest can trap 40% sediment from
run offs. NASA reported that 500 million
tons of sediment going into the Gulf of Mexico each year from the Mississippi
River. This means with mangrove forests
in the wetlands and on the shoreline, 200 million tons of sediment can be trap
in the wetlands and 40% (120 million tons) of the 300 million tons can be trap
in the mangrove forest on the shoreline.
Florida
has the best mangrove forest formation; it consists of red mangrove, black
mangrove, and white mangrove. Louisiana
already has black and red mangrove, all we need now is white mangrove. It’s cost effective to plant mangrove to
fight erosion-related problems. Let’s
just say 1 tree can produce 100 saplings in its lifetime and there are 5 generations
of trees in 50 years; this means 1 acre can produce enough saplings to fill 100
million acres of mangrove forest. Unlike
levees and dams, there is no maintenance cost on mangrove forests, because they
can self-repair and self-expand. This
method is eco-friendly and saves money, to be diverted to other projects.
References
Wold, Amy. “Aerial Planting of Mangrove Seeds Proving to be
Effective Method of Protecting Struggling Marshes in Louisiana.” The
Advocate. December 8, 2015. http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_134eb596-b9c1-5c44-92bb-98b4b45729a7.html
Accesses 20 February 2018
Victor, Steven et al. “Sedimentation in Mangroves and Coral
Reefs in a Wet Tropical Island, Pohnpei Micronesia.” Eustrine, Coastal and
Shelf Science, Volume 66, Issue 3-4. February 2006, pages 409-416. http://www.kewalo.hawaii.edu/docs/richmond/2006Victor.pdf Accesses 20 February 2018
“Mangroves and Seagrass Provide Habitat for Important
Commercial and Recreational Species, Help Stabilize the Seafloor, and Filter
pollutants.” National Oceanic & Atmospheric
Administration. https://floridakeys.noaa.gov/plants/msbenefits.html
Access 20 February 2018
“Current Value.” Mangrove Watch, Australia. http://www.mangrovewatch.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=88&Itemid=300205
Accesses 21 February 2018
“Louisiana Coastal Wetlands: A Resource At Risk” U.S.
Geological Survey. https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/la-wetlands/ Accesses 19 February 2018
Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. http://coastal.la.gov/our-work/projects/ Accesses 12 February 2018
“Zonation.” Florida Museum. https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/southflorida/habitats/mangroves/zonation
Accesses 28 February 2018
Melodi Smith and Jason Hanna. “Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ is
the size of Connecticut.” Cnn.com. August 5, 2014. https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/05/tech/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone/index.html Accesses 18 February 2018
NASA. https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=1257
Accesses 12 February 2018
Picture 2. https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/southflorida/habitats/mangroves/zonation
Accesses 28 February 2018
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