Regions Of Louisiana Research Articles

Impact of Harvest Lodging on Rough Rice Milling Yield and Market Price

Lodging of a rice (Oryza sativa L.) plant just before harvest can significantly impact the quality of the harvested crop yield as well as the market returns received for sale of the crop. The purpose of this study was to quantify the level and significance of lodging on the milling yield and market price of rough rice. A 2‐yr study was conducted in the major rice‐growing regions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas to evaluate the impact of early and late lodging before harvest. The study included two rice planting dates and a range of rice varieties predominately grown in the regions. Results suggest that lodging does have a significant impact on milling yield, although impacts of planting date and time of lodging were not significant. Lodging was found to have a greater impact on whole grain (head rice) milling yield than total grain milling yield. Head rice yield reductions of 30.19 to 55.30 g kg–1 were observed. Although market price effects will vary with the general level of average rough rice market prices in a given year, results for the 2011 and 2012 crop years showed market price reductions of .0075 to .0119 per kg, due to crop lodging impacts on milling yield alone.

Land Loss Due to Recent Hurricanes in Coastal Louisiana, U.S.A.

Palaneasu-Lovejoy, M.; Kranenburg, C.; Barras, J.A., and Brock, J.C., 2013. Land loss due to recent hurricanes in coastal Louisiana, U.S.A.. In: Brock, J.C.; Barras, J.A., and Williams, S.J. (eds.), Understanding and Predicting Change in the Coastal Ecosystems of the Northern Gulf of Mexico, Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 63, pp. 97–109, Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The aim of this study is to improve estimates of wetland land loss in two study regions of coastal Louisiana, U.S.A., due to the extreme storms that impacted the region between 2004 and 2009. The estimates are based on change-detection-mapping analysis that incorporates pre and postlandfall (Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike) fractional-water classifications using a combination of high-resolution (<5 m) QuickBird, IKONOS, and GeoEye-1, and medium-resolution (30 m) Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite imagery. This process was applied in two study areas: the Hackberry area located in the southwestern part of chenier plain that was impacted by Hurricanes Rita (September 24, 2005) and Ike (September 13, 2008), and the Delacroix area located in the eastern delta plain that was impacted by Hurricanes Katrina (August 29, 2005) and Gustav (September 1, 2008). In both areas, effects of the hurricanes include enlargement of existing bodies of open water and erosion of fringing marsh areas. Surge-removed marsh was easily identified in stable marshes but was difficult to identify in degraded or flooded marshes. Persistent land loss in the Hackberry area due to Hurricane Rita was approximately 5.8% and increased by an additional 7.9% due to Hurricane Ike, although this additional area may yet recover. About 80% of the Hackberry study area remained unchanged since 2003. In the Delacroix area, persistent land loss due to Hurricane Katrina measured approximately 4.9% of the study area, while Hurricane Gustav caused minimal impact of 0.6% land loss by November 2009. Continued recovery in this area may further erase Hurricane Gustav's impact in the absence of new storm events.

Research‐Based Decision Support in Hazard Mitigation: Louisiana Northshore Flood and Hurricane Protection

AbstractContinued population growth and development in exposed areas across Coastal Louisiana has created a new geography of hazards and disasters within the coastal zone. Increasing storm frequencies coupled with sea level rise will undoubtedly intensify the intersection between flood hazards and coastal residents. Accordingly, the baseline (inherent) capacity of places to adequately prepare for and rebound from disaster events will be negatively impacted. This paper summarizes the value of incorporating research‐based techniques into a non‐structural assessment of flood vulnerability within the Northshore Region of Louisiana. The exploratory nature of the methodology employed in this study was focused on determining the value of non‐structural measures of vulnerability in mitigation planning and the role of research in evidence‐based decision support for public officials. The outcome of the study highlighted new perspectives for measuring vulnerability within a policy environment, offering community officials a more robust understanding of the dynamic intersection of the physical threats, social vulnerability, and economic components of flood risk. This knowledge is currently being used by decision makers in the region to cultivate enhanced mitigation tactics that have traditionally been structurally focused. By incorporating the biophysical, economic, and social vulnerability into a qualitative “place” vulnerability matrix for the study area, the authors have been able to gain a more robust understanding of the flood risks across the region. By integrating this new understanding of risk into potential mitigation strategies, planning for risk reduction expenditures can more appropriately consider the drivers of place‐specific vulnerability.

Pet Ownership and the Spatial and Temporal Dimensions of Evacuation Decisions

Los autores encuestaron una muestra de evacuados desplazados por el Huracán Gustav sobre su decisión de incluir o no a las mascotas familiares en sus planes de evacuación. Los datos fueron recolectados a lo largo de dos mayores rutas de evacuación dentro del periodo de 48 horas previo a que el huracán llegara a tierra en la región del sur y costera de Louisiana, al sur de la Interestatal 10. Datos de códigos postales recolectados a través de las encuestas demostraron que los encuestados salían con mayor frecuencia de las regiones de código postal de Nueva Orleans, Houma, y Lafayette. Los resultados revelaron que la mayoría de los evacuados con mascotas optaron por incluirlas en sus planes de evacuación, resaltando el significado que las mascotas tienen en la toma oportuna de decisiones de evacuación. Si bien no es significativo en todas las regiones, la distancia de evacuación fue menor para personas con mascotas que para las personas que no tenían mascotas en sus vehículos.

The Mississippi Delta Region: Past, Present, and Future

The Mississippi delta region of south Louisiana houses a wealth of resources within a dynamic, subsiding landscape. Foundations for the delta region reflect Neogene evolution of the depocenter, whereas details of the modern landscape reflect late Pleistocene to Holocene evolution of the alluvial-deltaic plain. The Holocene delta plain was constructed by cyclical growth of deltaic headlands, followed by avulsion and relocation of the fluvial sediment source. Abandoned headlands were then submerged and reworked while a new headland was created at the site of active fluvial sediment input. Historic-period levees have decoupled the delta plain from its fluvial sediment source at the same time global sea-level rise was accelerating, which has accelerated delta-plain submergence. Diversions of Mississippi River water and sediment are necessary to achieve delta plain sustainability, but upstream dams trap ∼50% of the total sediment load, and there is not enough supply to keep pace with subsidence and accelerated sea-level rise. The future delta region will not resemble the recent past, and significant drowning is inevitable.

Predicting the Spatial Distribution of King Rails in an Agricultural Landscape

Species distribution modeling is valuable for assessing rare or elusive species and in landscapes where accessibility is limited, such as agricultural lands. While birds' local habitat associations are often well known, knowledge of broad-scale relationships and the spatial patterns of environmental factors is generally lacking. In this study, we develop and validate a predictive habitat model for the King Rail (Rallus elegans) in the rice-growing region of southwestern Louisiana and identify important areas for this elusive bird. In a previous localized study we found it to be associated with canopy cover and ditches/streams around the perimeter of rice fields. Here, we used a geographic information system (GIS) to extrapolate these habitat associations to the region (>940 000 ha). We determined the proportion of rice fields within a 5-km radius and quantified canopy cover and ditches within a 1-km radius. In repeated call-back surveys from 2007 to 2009 we recorded King Rails at 44 of 155 locations. On this basis, accounting for imperfect detection, we modeled King Rail occurrence. The validation results showed the model had good predictive ability, and in 17% of the area the predicted probability of occurrence was high. Accounting for imperfect detection resulted in an increased probability of occurrence. Most importantly, the spatial pattern revealed the threat of encroaching woody vegetation and the vulnerability of rail habitat to hurricanes and further land-use changes. Our study illustrates that field research can be extrapolated to GIS-based spatial models, which can identify key spatial patterns in a species' distribution.

Physical activity, screen time and pediatric health-related quality of life in the Mississippi Delta

Background: The association of physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among predominantly low-income children in the Mississippi Delta region has not been previously described. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey to assess health risks from a representative sample of the population ≥3 years old in the Delta Region of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Linear models were utilized to examine Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) scores based on reported PA and ST. Results: Median age of the 371 participants was 9.8 years, 57% were African American, and 26% had annual household income ≤$14,999. Overall, 262 (75%) were categorized as physically active and 48% reported >2 hours ST per day. Children reporting exercising 5 - 7 days per week had significantly better PedsQL total score (84.3 vs 80.8; p 2 hours per day) did not significantly impact HRQOL. Conclusions: Findings suggest that PA among children living in the Mississippi Delta was related to higher HRQOL; however, the positive effects of PA on HRQOL may be less for minority and low-income children.

Pyrethroid insecticide tolerance in bean leaf beetle, Cerotoma trifurcata, in the Mississippi Delta

Pyrethroid insecticides have historically been effective for controlling bean leaf beetles in soybeans. Perceived field efficacy in the Mississippi Delta region has been lower over the past several years. Laboratory and field data were collected to determine whether there has been a reduction in pyrethroid insecticide susceptibility. Laboratory and field data both confirmed that control of bean leaf beetles with pyrethroid insecticides is poorer in the Delta regions of Mississippi and Louisiana than in all other regions tested. However, it was not possible to show that this reduced susceptibility changed over time. Furthermore, insect movement appeared to make insecticide susceptibility regional, so that localized insecticide applications had little impact on the susceptibility of successive generations. Lack of field control owing to low efficacy of pyrethroid insecticides against bean leaf beetle populations in the Delta region should be expected. Selection pressure on a regional basis may further decrease efficacy. Carbamate insecticides generally still provide high levels of control.

Characterizing soils using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer: 1. Soil texture

The development of new technologies for use in field soil survey has produced powerful new quantitative tools for assessing soil physicochemical properties in-situ. One such technology, portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) spectrometry, has shown considerable promise in evaluating elemental concentrations in soils for a wide variety of applications. Less research is available on how PXRF can be applied to quantify soil physical properties (e.g. soil texture). This study evaluated the feasibility of predicting soil clay and sand contents from PXRF data on 584 soil samples collected from highly diverse regions of Louisiana and northeastern New Mexico (Capulin Volcano National Monument), USA. An Innov-X Delta Premium PXRF was used to sequentially scan soil samples under both field and laboratory conditions and assess 15 elements (K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Zr, Ba, and Pb). Elemental concentrations were then related to soil textural data processed through traditional laboratory methods with multiple linear regression. Among all elements evaluated, Fe and Rb showed particular significance for soil textural prediction. The regression models for sand and clay contents of both study sites were strongly correlated to soil textural separates with PXRF-soil texture R 2 of 0.862, 0.959, 0.892, and 0.780 for Louisiana sand and clay, and Capulin sand and clay, respectively. Independent validation sub-datasets confirmed that PXRF readings can be used to estimate soil textural parameters with high R 2 values of 0.854, 0.682, 0.975, 0.891, 0.875, and 0.876, and low RMSE values of 5.53%, 5.92%, 2.68%, 6.26%, 5.43%, and 2.66%, for Louisiana sand, silt, and clay and Capulin sand, silt, and clay, respectively. The RMSE values of clay are substantially lower than those reported in previous studies using other proximal sensing techniques. While regional differences may require localized standardization of the PXRF with a unique combination of elements germane to the study area, PXRF shows considerable promise as a technique for rapidly assessing soil textural separates in-situ.

(A146) Disaster Patient Tracking – Local, State and Federal Interoperability during a Multi-Hospital Evacuation Exercise

IntroductionAssociated with hospital evacuation is the need to track multiple patient evacuees from point of origination to final hospital reception. Patient tracking, a component of the hospital emergency operations plan, is vital to patient care; family association, resource management, financial reimbursement, risk management, and repatriation. Tracking strategies and plans can include a variety of vendors, hardware, software, and coordination issues. Hospital evacuee tracking plans and platforms exist at multiple jurisdictional levels but may not be interoperable.MethodsThree patient tracking platforms representing a local, state and federal application were used during a multi-hospital evacuation exercise, initiated in New Orleans, Louisiana, May 2010. Simulated patients were flown and tracked to multiple patient reception centers in the southern United States, including the Federal Coordinating Center in Shreveport, Louisiana, and receiving National Disaster Medical System hospitals. This review summarizes tracking operations, patient data characteristics captured and interoperability at the Shreveport reception location.Results7 New Orleans hospitals entered 51 patients for evacuation into Louisiana's web-based, At-Risk-Registry (ARR) database including 8 patient identifiers each. ARR data was shared with federal and Louisiana Region 7 patient evacuee receivers for flight manifest construction and reception planning. 34 ARR evacuee patients were indicated for the Shreveport, Louisiana, reception site. 34 patients with 6 identifying characteristics were entered from ARR into EMTrack, the local patient tracking system. A C130 arrived with a TRAC2ES manifest of 20 simulated patients with 6 patient data characteristics. The local tracking system was reconfigured for the hardcopy manifest; simulated patients were received at the airport; transported and received at local hospitals.ConclusionsTracking system interoperability may be challenged by tracking technologies, jurisdictional requirements and degree of implementation at the local, state and federal level. Tracking should be standardized based on national recommendations with local systems remaining flexible for just-in-time requirements.

Nivalenol-Type Populations of Fusarium graminearum and F. asiaticum Are Prevalent on Wheat in Southern Louisiana

U.S. populations of the Fusarium graminearum clade cause head blight on wheat and barley and usually contaminate grain with the trichothecene mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON). Recently, however, individual nivalenol (NIV)-type isolates from the United States were described that belonged to either the newly described species F. gerlachii or the genetically distinct Gulf Coast population of F. graminearum sensu stricto (s.s.). Here, we describe the discovery of NIV-type F. graminearum s.s. populations that were found in high proportion (79%) among isolates from small-grain-growing regions of Louisiana. We genotyped 237 isolates from Louisiana with newly developed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) restriction fragment length polymorphism markers and multiplex PCR primers that distinguish among the three trichothecene types: the two DON types (15ADON and 3ADON) and NIV. These isolates were compared with 297 isolates from 11 other U.S. states, predominantly from the Midwest. Using Bayesian-model-based clustering, we discovered a southern Louisiana population of F. graminearum s.s. that was genetically distinct from the previously recognized pathogen population in the Midwest (MW15ADON population). Population membership was correlated with trichothecene type. Most isolates from the southern Louisiana population were of the NIV type, while the majority of the isolates from the Midwest were of the 15ADON type. A smaller proportion of isolates from Louisiana belonged to the previously described Gulf Coast population that was mostly of the 3ADON type. The NIV type was also identified in collections from Arkansas (12%), North Carolina (40%), and Missouri (2%), with the collections from Arkansas and North Carolina being small and unrepresentative. F. asiaticum was detected from the two southern Louisiana parishes Acadia and Alexandria. All identified 41 F. asiaticum isolates were of the NIV type. Greenhouse tests indicated that U.S. NIV types accumulated four times less trichothecene toxin than DON types on inoculated wheat. This is the first report of NIV-type populations of F. graminearum s. s. and F. asiaticum in the United States.

Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities ed. by Albert Valdman, Kevin J. Rottet

the second half of his book to this peculiar scholar and to the organizations and legislation that his work inspired. Are Anglicisms a problem? Every language includes words from other languages. The metaphors used to describe the phenomenon are reflective of the ways such words are considered: borrowing, lending, and indebtedness, from the sphere of the marketplace; “intrus” (68), “titre de nationalité” (18), and “droit de cité” (66), from the naturalization and citizenship of immigrants; “résistance” (71) and “défense” from the language of war; “santé de la langue” (134) from medicine and particularly epidemiology; “métissage” (149) from the discourse of race. The prevalence of such terms, even occasionally by Bogaards himself, reveals just how difficult it is to approach this topic with scientific objectivity. Much of the metaphoric creativity applied to this subject can be attributed to Etiemble. Bogaards traces Etiemble’s career as a sinologist, noting the paradoxical relationship between his embrace of Confucian ideals and his fanatical and unbalanced anti-Americanism. Some people travel abroad to learn about another culture from the inside; others go simply to have their preconceived prejudices confirmed. Etiemble’s six-year stay in the United States was clearly in the latter category. Indicative of his odd sense of values is his preference for the Nazis over the Americans, because at least the Nazis wrote their horrible decrees in good French (131). Etiemble had no use for linguists, whose disinterest in prescriptivism made them fellow travelers of the evil Yankee imperialists. Prescriptivism deserves a place as an object of study in linguistics, but Etiemble is a good example of why linguists try to avoid the issue. Despite his tenuous relationship to rationality and lack of scientific method, Etiemble’s work led to the institutionalization of efforts to create alternatives to English words. A variety of organizations, both public and private, are enumerated in chapters 12 and 13, along with the two major pieces of anti-Anglicism legislation (Loi Bas-Lauriol [1975] and Loi Toubon [1994])—all to little effect. Overall, the lack of impact is rather striking, given the millions of Euros spent in terminological commissions and Francophone summits. For every success (e.g., logiciel), there are hundreds of failures. This short and readable presentation provides a concise and wellreasoned summary of the research to date, along with a few nuggets of original scholarship, particularly word-frequency studies based on corpora now available. University of Illinois Douglas A. Kibbee Methods and Materials edited by Sarah Jourdain VALDMAN, ALBERT, and KEVIN J. ROTTET, eds. Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 2010. ISBN 978-1-60473-403-4. Pp. 892. $38.00. This edited book is an indispensable reference tool. It provides the most complete inventory of French vocabulary in the five broad regions of Louisiana (the coastal marshes, the banks of the Mississippi River, the central area, the north, and the western prairie). The vocabulary presented accurately reflects the speech of this region from 1930 to the present day. 826 FRENCH REVIEW 84.4 Beyond the fact that the Dictionary of Louisiana French has the largest number of words and expressions available in this type of reference dictionary, what distinguishes it is the detailed information provided for each entry. Each entry contains the word in its conventional French spelling, the word’s pronunciation and attested variants, its parts-of-speech classification, its English equivalent, and its current usage in common phrases. The introductory three-page “A User’s Guide to the Dictionary” (XV–XVII) illustrates the organization of each of the dictionary’s entries. The headword is in boldface, the spelling variants follow the headword entry in parenthesis, then come the phonetic transcription, part of speech, information about the connotations of certain words, the English equivalent, an example sentence of the headword used in context, translation of the example sentence, the code for the source of the example, and the list of parishes and textual sources where the headword was found. For example, the following is provided for the adjective “soûlard, soûleuse (souleur, -euse)”: “[sular, suløz, suloer] adj. habitual drinker, drunkard, alcoholic Il a eu le malheur de...

Asian Citrus Psyllid (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) and Citrus Greening Disease in Louisiana

Abstract. The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, was detected in Orleans Parish, LA, in May 2008. Soon after detection, the tree upon which the Asian citrus psyllid had been found tested positive for citrus greening (or huanglongbing). In response to these detections, personnel from the Louisiana State University AgCenter worked with representatives of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry and USDA-APHIS-PPQ to respond to the situation. Pest control recommendations were developed for nursery, commercial, and backyard citrus production. This information was distributed to stakeholders via traditional extension channels (publications, media, Internet sites, and in-person presentations). County field faculty worked with inspectors to identify locations to survey. The efforts culminated in the implementation of an area-wide management approach in Plaquemines Parish, the largest citrus-producing region of Louisiana. To date, huanglongbing has not been detected in Plaquemines Parish...

Pre-landfall evacuee perception of the meteorological hazards associated with Hurricane Gustav

In this study, evacuees from the path of Hurricane Gustav were surveyed to determine which meteorological hazards most influenced their decision to leave. Surveys were conducted along two major evacuation routes on August 30 and 31, 2008, to collect time-sensitive data on individual evacuation decisions related to the meteorological hazards from Hurricane Gustav. The regions of New Orleans, Houma, and Lafayette were represented most frequently, as determined by zip code data collected from the surveys. Responses were evaluated first by meteorological hazard for the entire dataset and then by three-digit zip code region. Overall, storm surge was the most important meteorological variable, followed by the size of the storm, wind, rain, and tornadoes. When separated into three-digit zip code regions, analyses revealed evacuees from in and around New Orleans were driven to evacuate as a result of the perceived threat from storm surge and storm size; residents in the Houma, Louisiana region were motivated to leave due to the threat from storm surge; and Lafayette and the surrounding areas were most-concerned with the threats posed by hurricane-force winds. Given the forecast track and intensity, survey respondents understood the meteorological hazards from Gustav and were motivated to leave based on personal evaluations of risk associated with the storm.

Vagabonds along the Spanish Louisiana-Texas Frontier, 1769-1803: "Men Who are Evil, Lazy, Gluttonous, Drunken, Libertinous, Dishonest, Mutinous, etc. etc. etc—And Those are Their Virtues"

Hundreds of nomadic vagabonds wandered throughout the hunting and trading regions of Lower Louisiana and Texas in the colonial period. The area displayed here includes lands currently in the adjoining states ofTexas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Vagabonds alongtheSpanishLouisiana-TexasFrontier, 1769-1803: "Men Who areEvil, Lazy, Gluttonous, Drunken, Libertinous, Dishonest, Mutinous, etc. etc. etc—And Those are Their Virtues" By H. Sophie Burton* In August 18, 1769, don Alejandro O'Reilly, an Irishman in the service of the King of Spain, took military possession of New Orleans and in the following months introduced Spanish laws to the previously French-held colony of Louisiana. A number of O'Reilly's regulations concerned the Indian trade that provided pelts, horses, cattle, and Indian captives—items mostly obtained from Native American tribes living in Spanish Texas—to the port of New Orleans. The new rules, which applied to the interior posts, required that the traders return to the posts to acquire a license from Spanish officials in order to conduct legal commerce and prohibited the sale ofcustomary items such as livestock from Texas. The rules affected the livelihood and personal lives of the several hundred Euroamerican men who participated in the formerly unregulated Indian trade. Two such workers,Jacques Riddé dit Bellefleur and his assistant,Joseph Maloin, traders at the Yatasi Caddo Indian village located near the official post of Natchitoches on the Red River, reacted with alarm at the news of the Spanish regulations. A recent immigrant from Quebec, Maloin, a stonecutter who did not "live in any one place, but rather wandered in search of employment," reluctantly returned to Natchitoches as ordered. He testified that Bellefleur refused to return to the post because his employer "feared the Spanish would not want them to * Dr. Helen Sophie Burton lives in Dallas and wrote a dissertation at Texas Christian University that became the co-written book, Colonial Natchitoches: A Creole Community on the Louisiana-Texas Frontier. The author is grateful to Todd Smith, Guy Chet, Light Cummins, Mike Campbell, Don Chipman, and Ryan Schumacher for üieir encouragement and editorial corrections. Vol. CXIII, No. 4 Southwestern Historical QuarterlyApril 2010 440Southwestern Historical QuarterlyApril trade with the Indians, and he would not be able to earn his livelihood anymore." Instead, Bellefleur opted to remain in the wilderness to hunt in the Ouachita and Arkansas River basins.1 To a large extent, Bellefleur was correct, for Spanish Bourbon policies in the late eighteenth century were directed toward developing stable plantation agriculture and ranching in Lower Louisiana to the detriment of the Indian trade and its workers. As a result, Spanish officials in Louisiana and Texas lumped rank-and-file Indian trade workers and hunters into a category ofundesirables known as "vagabonds." In the 1769 Spanish census ofLouisiana, these "ambulant people who say that they are inhabitants, but who frequently change where they live" constituted about one-fifth (533 of 2,708, or 20.4 percent) of the colony's Euroamerican population. Despite officials' continued attempts to force the wanderers to setüe down with families and raise crops, vagabondage persisted for the rest ofthe eighteenth century. In 1789, the commandant of the post at Natchitoches, Louis de Blanc, complained of the "general crowd of ambulant people in this post of my command as well as the posts ofthis province and Texas and Indian nations ofbothjurisdictions."2 In the late eighteenth century, Spanish officials lamented the presence of poor, rootless vagabonds, inordinately fearing them as a threat to order and stability. As a result, they used strong language to accuse the Indian trade workers and hunters of Louisiana and Texas of the most extreme behavior. Teodoro de Croix, an official from New Spain, complained thatTexas remained underdeveloped because ofthe Indian traders' laxity of conduct, which included "theft, incontinence, scandalous concubinage, prohibited games and drinking, and the lenience with which many vicious, slothful, idle, and vagabond persons have been allowed to establish themselves and live, with no other purpose than that ofpropagating and extending their perverse habits." Another Commandant at Natchitoches, Athanase de Mézières, despised 1 Alejandro O'Reilly toJerónimo Grimaldi, Marqués de Grimaldi, Dec. ??, 1769, in Spain in the Mississippi Valley, Ij6;-iyg4, ed...

Survey of the Silicon Status of Flooded Rice in Louisiana

Low Si content in rice (Oryza sativa L.), sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.), and other Si‐accumulating crops can adversely affect crop performance by increasing susceptibility to abiotic and biotic stresses. Although it is generally assumed in the United States that soils containing appreciable amounts of silicate clays supply adequate Si to meet crop demands, there is little evidence to support this assumption. A survey was conducted to assess the Si status of rice plants at mid‐tiller (Y‐leaf) and at harvest (straw) in 97 rice fields located throughout the rice‐growing regions of Louisiana. On average, Y‐leaves contained 30.5 ± 7.8 g Si kg−1, whereas mature rice straw contained 54.7 ± 12.7 g Si kg−1 Low early season Si assimilation occurred in nearly all rice fields, whereas only 36% contained mature straw with &lt;50 g Si kg−1, a level commonly used to indicate sufficiency. Late‐season deficiencies were limited to fields in extreme southwest Louisiana where soils tend to be strongly acidic and have a long history of rice production.

A Meta-analytical Comparison of Fish Assemblages from Multiple Estuarine Regions of Southeastern Louisiana Using a Taxonomic-Based Method

Abstract The estuarine ecosystems of southeastern Louisiana are threatened by numerous environmental impacts such as wetland loss, coastal development, and overharvesting of natural resources. If the relative health of different estuaries can be determined, then management efforts might be focused on those regions needing the most protection. Unfortunately, estuaries are by definition dynamic, precluding easy comparisons of relative environmental health. Meta-analyses can be used to overcome problems associated with this natural variability. Analyzing sizable ecological data sets that cover large spatial and temporal scales is helpful in assessing relative ecosystem health among different regions. To compare the health of four estuarine regions of southeastern Louisiana (the Barataria Basin, Lake Maurepas, Lake Pontchartrain, and the Biloxi Marsh and Chandeleur Islands region), we calculated taxonomic distinctness and variation in taxonomic distinctness for fishery-independent data collected from three ha...

Relative Nest Density, Nest Success, and Site Occupancy of King Rails in Southwestern Louisiana Rice Fields

Abstract King Rail (Rallus elegans) populations are listed as threatened or endangered in 13 states. One remaining area of relative abundance is the rice-growing region of southwestern Louisiana. Rice fields are flooded for much of the year and support thick emergent vegetation, potentially providing high-quality habitat for King Rails. The objectives of this study were to determine: 1) relative nest density of King Rails in rice; 2) which local and landscape factors influence relative nest densities; 3) nest survival of King Rails in rice fields; 4) effectiveness of callback surveys in indicating King Rail breeding activity; and 5) site occupancy of King Rails in rice fields. In the summers of 2004 and 2005, King Rail surveys and nest searches were conducted in Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Vermilion, and Acadia Parishes in southwestern Louisiana. In 2004, 42 fields were searched for nests and 30 of those were surveyed with callback survey techniques. In 2005, 40 fields were searched and 60 were surveyed. A ...

Registration of ‘L 79‐1002’ Sugarcane

‘L 79‐1002’ (Reg. No. CV‐132, PI 651501) sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum officinarum L., S. spontaneum L., S. barberi Jeswiet, and S. sinense Roxb. amend. Jeswiet) was released on 26 Apr. 2007 by the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in cooperation with the USDA‐ARS and the American Sugarcane League, Inc. The cross for L 79‐1002, a F1 hybrid, was made in 1974 using ‘CP 52‐68’ as the female parent and Tainan, a S. spontaneum clone, as the male parent. Initial clonal selection was done in single stools. Testing was done from 1976 through 1983 in yield trials conducted in the traditional sugarcane growing area in south Louisiana and in the colder, non‐sugarcane growing regions of north Louisiana. Yield testing was resumed in 2002 through 2005 as interest in biofuels research renewed. L 79‐1002 was released for an emerging biofuels industry because of its high fiber content and biomass (cane yield) potential. Average fiber content for L 79‐1002 is approximately 257 g kg−1 The new cultivar also has excellent vigor and ratooning ability. Experiments conducted at Bossier City, Louisiana (32.1° N lat) indicated a broader range of adaptability than sugarcane cultivars grown for the production of sucrose.

Increase in West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease after Hurricane Katrina

After Hurricane Katrina, the number of reported cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) sharply increased in the hurricane-affected regions of Louisiana and Mississippi. In 2006, a >2-fold increase in WNND incidence was observed in the hurricane-affected areas than in previous years.