ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



This profile is dedicated to the 

 graduate students in Marine Sciences and 

 Fisheries at Louisiana State University 

 (LSU), Baton Rouge, who carried out much 

 of the original field research upon which 

 this profile is based. I have been privi- 

 leged to work closely with thirteen of 

 them. Fifty- six literature citations in 

 the profile are authored or coauthored by 

 students. They have made a major contri- 

 bution toward unravelling the ecology of 

 our coastal ecosystems. 



have been 

 of coworkers 



fortunate to 

 for the last 



enjoy a 

 15 years 



group 



who introduced me to 



participated with me in 



stiiiiul ation of wetland 



contributions are cited 



work. They are Len 



Charles Hopkinson, 



Stone, Gene Turner, 



Costanza, Flora Wang, Bob Baumann, Deborah 



Fuller, Gary Paterson, and Charles Sasser. 



the marshes and 

 the intellectual 

 research. Their 

 throughout this 

 Bahr, John Day, 

 Roland Parrondo, Jim 

 and more recently Bob 



Special thanks are extended to Jim 

 Coleman, who drafted the geology section 

 of this report, and to Linda Deegan and 

 Jean and Walt Sikora for information and 

 advice on the benthos and nekton sections, 

 respectively. John Day and Irv 



Mendelssohn (LSU), Gerry Bodin [U.S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service (FWS), Lafayette, 

 La.], Ed Pendleton (FWS National Coastal 

 Ecosystems Team), and 

 Suzanne Hawes , and John 

 Corps of Engineers, New 

 reviewed an early draft 

 helpful suggestions 

 Thanks to Kathryn 



Steve Matheis, 



Weber (U.S. Army 



Orleans District) 



and provided many 



for improving it. 



Lyster and Susan 



Lauritzen (FWS National Coastal Eco- 

 systems Team); they edited and did the 

 layout for the profile, respectively. 

 Dawnlyn M. Harris provided word processing 

 assistance. Diane Baker, as usual, did a 

 superb job drafting the figures. She 

 created the cover. My wife, Jean, showed 

 great forbearance and understanding while 

 I labored long hours over the word 

 processor. 



Much of the research cited in this 

 manuscript was supported by the National 

 Sea Grant Program and the U.S. Army 

 Engineers District, New Orleans. The 

 preparation of this profile has been 

 sponsored by the Office of the Chief of 

 Engineers in association with the Water- 

 ways Experiment Station, the Lower 

 Mississippi Valley Division, and the New 

 Orleans District, Anny Corps of Engineers, 

 and the Fish and Wildlife Service. 



XIV 



