. The ecology of delta marshes of coastal Louisiana : a community profile. Marsh ecology -- Louisiana; Wetlands -- Louisiana. increase during active delta growth to a inaxiinuin when the distributary is abandoned, and then decrease as marshes subside and degrade back to open water bodies. The length of the interface between the marsh and adjoining water bodies (the marsh edge) is small in young delta lobes because the new marsh is fairly solid. After abandonment, however, the marsh edge increases as marshes open up and more and more tidal streams interfinger through them. This is reflected in
. The ecology of delta marshes of coastal Louisiana : a community profile. Marsh ecology -- Louisiana; Wetlands -- Louisiana. increase during active delta growth to a inaxiinuin when the distributary is abandoned, and then decrease as marshes subside and degrade back to open water bodies. The length of the interface between the marsh and adjoining water bodies (the marsh edge) is small in young delta lobes because the new marsh is fairly solid. After abandonment, however, the marsh edge increases as marshes open up and more and more tidal streams interfinger through them. This is reflected in the ratio of marsh edge length to marsh area (m/m^) in different marsh zones. There are no measurements of this ratio available for the delta, but in the neighboring chenier plain's fairly solid fresh and intenriedi- ate marshes the ratio is 15 and 17, respectively. As tidal energy increases, the ratio increases to 39 in brackish marshes and 50 in salt marshes (Gosselink et al. 1979). Applying these ratios to the delta hydrologic units, the mean edge length per unit area of marsh, weighted for the area of different marsh zones in a hydrologic unit, increases with the age of the unit (Figure 28). However, because younger units have more marsh, the total length of the marsh edge (the product of the ratio and the marsh area) is greatest in the recently abandoned Barataria and Terrebonne units (III and IV, Figure 28). "e 1'° -â¢o 0 y A X Lenglh -»/ \ I / \ tn E \ c , \ < \ 3 30 -115 ~ »a \ u. O \ O Z m V < _i \ UJ * q: UJ Length , / A < 20 -O10 Area \ o 1 \ I LU 1 \ t- 1 \ O -I 1 \ z < 1 â v lU 1- ^ -â 10 o t- - 1 u : o t o 1 UJ cC ^x^-- J X^X S \\\^ s f^ =^ \'\'; . s^ \\\V rs^J n\\V V II III IV I VI HYDROLOGIC UNIT Figure 28. Marsh edge length:area ratio and total marsh edge length for delta hydrologic units. The units are arranged in order of increasing age (data from Chabreck 1972). How are these differences in the physical characteristics of hydrol
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