INTRODUCTION OF SMOOTH CORDGRASS 

 ON A NEW SITE 



Faye A. Talbot 



USDA Soil Conservation Service 



555 Goodhope Street 



Norco, LA 70079 



Allan Ensminger 



Wetlands and Wildlife Management Company 



P.O. Box 158 



Belle Chasse, LA 70037 



ABSTRACT 



A revegetation project was located in the interior of a historically fresh marsh in southeastern 

 Louisiana. The plant introduced to the area was smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), a typical 

 saltwater marsh plant with no prior recorded occurrence in the area. Other salt tolerant species 

 such as marshhay cordgrass (Spartina patens) had entered the area through natural plant succession, 

 and since its introduction, smooth cordgrass is following this trend. Ample sites are available for 

 smooth cordgrass to occupy. Nucleus stands of suitable vegetation to be used for planting are 

 extremely important to the landowner to reduce the expense of obtaining and transporting plant 

 material great distances. Natural expansion of a planted community is the goal of this revegetation 

 program and demonstrates the success of the effort. 



INTRODUCTION 



This study of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) was made in St. Charles Parish which lies 

 in southeast Louisiana between Jefferson and St. John the Baptist Parishes, approximately 48 km 

 up river from New Orleans. The area is typical of the Mississippi River Delta in that the land 

 slopes away from the alluvial ridge of the river to adjacent back swamp and marsh areas. The 

 study area is bounded on the north by Lake Pontchartrain, on the south by U.S. Highway 61, on 

 the east by the Jefferson Parish line, and on the west by Bayou LaBranche. Minimum elevations 

 at or slightly below mean sea level are found in the marsh areas adjacent to Lake Pontchartrain. 

 Normal ground elevation in the marsh averages 0.15 m to 0.21 m above sea level (St. Charles 

 Lakefront Levee 1969; Ensminger and Savant 1986). 



Borings near Lake Pontchartrain done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1969 and the 

 Department of Transportation and Development in 1986 show the subsurface soil in this area 

 consists of Recent deposits varying in thickness from about 15.25 m to over 30.50 m underlain with 

 sediments of Prairie formation age. Generally the Recent consists of a surface layer, 3.66 to 6.10 

 m thick, consisting of very soft marsh clays with peat and organic matter, and moisture content of 

 about 360%. This soil is classified by the Soil Conservation Service as a Lafitte muck, a highly 

 erosive, deep, organic soil. 



This area was chosen to introduce smooth cordgrass because of it deteriorates with increased 

 salinity, water depth, and tidal fluctuation. Personal communication with local land users and 



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