An Ecological Assessment of the Louisiana Tensas River Basin Chapter 3 
Through landscape analysis we can also locate sites for 
potential forest wetland restoration. Figure 3.24 shows a 
combination of a hydric soils map with a flood map and 
the forest change map along a 360-meter buffer of the 
main channel of the Tensas River Basin and its major 
tributaries. Using these maps land managers can make 
decisions on locating potential restoration sites by factor¬ 
ing in fertile and non-fertile soil types, land which has the 
potential to flood, and areas which were forest and could 
easily be forested again in the future. Based on the 
combinations of these indicators, the best candidates for 
potential restoration sites are shown in green on the right 
image of Figure 3.24. Figure 3.24 shows an enlarged 
map for ease in identifying restoration locations. Figure 
3.25 illustrates this technique applied over the entire Basin. 
We have also determined the percent of forest change 
including restoration efforts over the Tensas River Basin 
and its subwatersheds. Figure 3.26 shows the percent of 
forest change, the forest change for the whole basin, and 
the net forest restoration effort to date. Zones 4 and 7 
show the most impact from the restoration efforts and 
Zones 6, 8, and 9 show little change in restoration. Zone 8 
shows the most forest loss of all the Zones with a 21.2 
percent loss over the 20-year time period. The combina¬ 
tion of GIS analysis and these kinds of landscape analysis 
can give land managers powerful decision tools for improv¬ 
ing environmental quality. 
Flooded Ares* 
Figure 3.24 
Potential Forest Wetland Restoration. 
Areas of Potential Resoration - 
Combination of Forest Loss and Flooded 
Areas Displayed on Hydric Soils. 
Potential Restoration 
A/ Tensas River 
Soils - Percent Hydric 
33-51% 
52 - 82% 
83 - 99% 
Forest Loss/Gain - 
Within 360 meter Buffer 
of the Tensas River and 
Major Tributaries 
Land cover 
Forest 
Forest Loss 
Forest Gain 
Human Use 
■H Water 
