Energy producers, developers, legislators, policy makers, and the public are searching for alternative energy sources to alleviate energy demands and dependency on fossil fuels. Of the renewable energy sources, biomass from forestry, crop, and animal residues offer a clean and sustainable solution to help mitigate climate issues and stabilize energy needs. However, most forests and farms in the U.S. are privately owned. Its important to understand forest landowners, agricultural producers, and poultry producers attitudes and perceptions towards management activities intended for producing bio-based products. Three surveys were conducted tailored for each group. We surveyed 3,500 small to medium forest landowners in Southwest Louisiana, 2,964 small to medium agricultural producers in the Delta region of Louisiana and Mississippi, and 846 poultry producers within the U.S. Results from all three surveys suggest respondents were positive about utilizing biomass for bioenergy. Results from all three surveys suggests a large portion neutral attitudes respondents have towards bio-based issues are due, in part, to low levels of familiarity on the subject. Also, the majority believed that viable technologies exist for converting biomass to bioenergy. However, most believed its a low-value product compared to traditional products. For forestry and agricultural respondents, just over half were willing to participate in management activities specifically geared for biomass production. These older respondents are more likely to agree that harvesting biomass will negatively impact wildlife habitat, air, water, and soil quality. Also, they had a higher propensity to agree that tax credits, subsidies, and incentive programs should not be provided for biomass establishment, selling, and utilization. In contrast, results suggest that larger landowners and producers are less likely to agree that harvesting biomass will negatively impact wildlife habitat, air, water, and soil quality. Also, they are more likely to agree tax credits, subsidies, and incentive programs should be provided for biomass establishment, selling, and utilization. For poultry producers, results indicate that the majority would participate in the sale of poultry litter biomass and biomass markets. Also, poultry producers appeared to have a higher level of familiarity towards biomass concepts and issues when compared to forest landowners and agricultural producers.

The term green job is a relatively new definition that defines employment activities that are likely to have occurred since the beginning of human existence. The push to identify, to quantify and to drive the growth of these jobs has recently been brought on by climate change and the depletion of Earths natural resources. According to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, green jobs are either (a) Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources or (b) Jobs in which workers duties involve making their establishments production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources. For the purposes of this study, seven green job categories were used. 1.Education, Public Awareness, and Compliance 2.Energy Efficiency 3.Green Certification 4.Greenhouse Gas Reduction 5.Pollution Reduction and Cleanup 6.Recycling and Waste Reduction 7.Renewable Energy In order to obtain information on green jobs in the Louisiana forest sector, a mail survey was administered to the known population of the Louisiana forest sector supply chain. Member sectors included loggers, primary producers, secondary manufacturers and brokers/distributors. The overarching objectives of the study were to classify and quantify current and future green jobs in the Louisiana forest sector and to develop an understanding of supply chain member attitudes and behaviors in the context of green jobs. Results indicate that a wide array of green jobs exist in the industry. Each green category is well represented and overall, respondents consider 12.7 percent of employment in the sector to be green. Additionally, respondents forecast that 16.7 percent of employment in the forest sector supply chain will be green in five years. Increased profits, government incentives and regulations and public perception were reported to be likely drivers of green job creation. Respondents claimed to have a clear understanding of the term sustainability while there were misconceptions about the term green jobs and their potential impacts on the industry. Study results suggest that education and, potentially training would benefit forest sector members that participate in the green jobs arena.

Nest predation is the principle source of reproductive failure in many bird species. Understanding nest predation requires knowledge of interactions between landscape characteristics, and the ecology and behavior of birds and local nest predators. I studied nesting ecology and multi-scale habitat selection of female wild turkeys and the habitat selection and searching behaviors of raccoons, an important nest predator, in a bottomland hardwood forest in Louisiana. My objective was to evaluate the relationships between habitat, wild turkey nest site selection, and raccoon foraging behavior. I used first-passage time (FPT) analysis on nightly foraging tracks of raccoons during the turkey nesting period to test the applicability of the method to a terrestrial predator, determine whether raccoons engage in area-restricted searching (ARS), and to identify areas of concentrated searching activity. Mean turkey home ranges sizes varied from 673ha during pre-incubation to 363ha during brood-rearing. Mature upland forests were selected by turkeys year round. Wild turkeys nested in upland forests (n = 35) and openings (n = 6) offering understory cover, often close to forest edges. Wild turkey reproduction was characterized by low nesting rates (60%) and average nest success rates (39%), and nest predation was the leading cause of nest failure (34%). Mean raccoon home range sizes ranged from 177ha during breeding to 120ha during summer. Seasonal habitat selection varied, presumably as a response to spatio-temporal changes in food availability. Evidence of ARS was found in 55 of 58 paths analyzed and could be induced by supplemental feeding, validating the assumption that ARS represented foraging activity. ARS was associated with lower elevations and shallow standing water, whereas raccoons moved quickly through upland forest habitats with sparse understory vegetation. These results suggest that nest predation by raccoons is incidental rather than the result of targeted searching in habitats with similar structure to those selected by wild turkeys for nesting in this system. This represents the first time FPT has been applied to a terrestrial predator and researchers should consider FPT in future studies of habitat use and foraging ecology of terrestrial predators.

Disturbance-dependent birds throughout the United States have recently experienced significant declines due to fire suppression and conversion of wilderness to human-dominated landscapes. In Louisiana, young loblolly pine plantations are an important source of early- successional habitat for these specialist birds. However, changes in management practices may affect forest stand suitability for bird communities that rely on them. Here I examined how changes in two site preparations, tree row spacing [14 ft (4.3 m) vs. 20 ft (6.1 m)] and arrangement of post-harvest woody debris (piled vs. scattered), impacted breeding, disturbance- dependent birds. During four summers in 2006-2010, observers conducted point counts and extended searches to determine species richness, abundance, and breeding activity for birds using 0-5 year old plantations at four locations across Louisiana. Vegetation measurements were also recorded and reduced to three composite variables: structure, evergreen cover, and groundcover, to determine how they might influence birds. Although bird communities increased by all measures as stands matured, I found no evidence that they were impacted by any of the experimental site preparations. Similarly, no vegetation measures differed among treatments, although they were highly influential to birds. It appears that bird communities responded positively to increases in vegetation structure, evergreen cover, and groundcover over time as plants became established and breeding resources increased, regardless of either row spacing or woody debris placement. Therefore, it does not appear that row spacing or debris distribution in this study is an important consideration relative to disturbance-dependent bird communities. Due to the importance of vegetation structure and cover to these birds, however, timber managers should employ other methods that maximize non-competitive vegetation, such as thick herbaceous groundcover, to improve habitat quality for disturbance-dependent birds.

This dissertation details research into the sustainability of industrial, human, and natural systems in south Louisiana. Chapter 1 is a general introduction. Chapter 2 calculates the energy return on financial investment (EROFI) of oil and gas production in the ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GoM) in 2009 and the Macondo Prospect (Mississippi Canyon Block 252). I calculated a preliminary Energy Return on Investment (EROI) using a range of energy intensity ratios. The EROFI for ultra-deepwater oil and gas at the wellhead was roughly 0.85 gallons, per dollar. These estimates of EROI for 2009 ultra-deepwater oil and natural gas at the wellhead ranged from 722:1. The EROFI of the Macondo Prospect oil reserves ranged from $84 to $140 to produce a barrel, and EROI ranged from 416:1. The lower end of these EROI ranges (i.e., 4 to 7:1) is more accurate because these values were derived using energy intensities averaged across the domestic oil and gas industry. Extraction costs of ultra-deepwater energy reserves in the GoM come at increasing energetic and economic cost to society. In Chapter 3, I estimated the annual greenhouse gas emissions primarily from energy usage at Louisiana State University (LSU). Total energy use is 2.43 million MMBtu resulting in per capita GHG emissions of 6.1 Metric Tons CO2e, which is low compared to many other universities. Chapter 4 estimates the carbon storage of two bottomland hardwood forests located in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Carbon storage varied with microtopography. Carbon storage was greatest on drier ridge sites compared to swale sites. The forested area required to mitigate the 162,742 MT CO2e emitted by the LSU campus community in fiscal year 2007-2008 is estimated to be 12,937 to 23,150 hectares. The low end of this range is based on storage rates at the Ben Hur ridge study site and the high end of this range is based on storage rates measured at the St. Gabriel swale study site. Management for maximum carbon sequestration could lower the amount of land necessary to offset carbon emissions by the university. Chapter 5 contains the summary and conclusions.

This project examined the economically and ecologically valuable eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico using field and laboratory experiments. Specifically, this project focused on natural rates of settlement, growth, and mortality in a variety of temperature and salinity regimes within Breton Sound, LA. Seed and market sized oysters in cages resting on the bottom, as well as settlement tiles, were monitored at four sites in Breton Sound, LA, along what is typically a salinity gradient ranging from ~5 to ~20. In April 2010, the Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion was fully opened with the goal of minimizing the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on wetlands, resulting in extreme low salinity (< 2) at all sites through August 2010. High seed and market-sized mortality and reduced condition were observed in oysters at all sites. Perkinsus marinus infection prevalence in surviving market oysters was low at all sites and all infection intensities were light. Settlement only occurred at the highest salinity site. In May 2011, the Mississippi River flooded to record levels, resulting in low salinity (<10) at all sites through June 2011. This short period of low salinity minimized disease infection intensity and settlement at all sites. Oysters at the lowest salinity site experienced high mortality and low growth. Oysters at higher salinity sites experienced limited mortality, mostly from predation, along with higher growth and condition. While low salinity may be beneficial to oyster populations by reducing P. marinus infection levels, prolonged extreme low salinity through spring and summer appears to cause heavy mortality and negatively impact recruitment in the short term. While not only is it clear that the timing and duration of freshwater inputs will significantly affect the impacts on oyster resources, it is likely that large scale global climate patterns (including El Niño and La Niña events) will also modify how and to what extent freshwater events may affect Breton Sound. This project highlights the importance of understanding the timing and duration of low salinity events and their impacts on oyster life history stages.

Timber harvesting can degrade the quality of adjacent water bodies, an important concern for Louisiana, nearly 50% of which is forested, and in which the forest industry is the second-largest manufacturing employer. To protect valuable freshwater resources in Louisiana, a manual of best management practices (BMPs) was published in 2000 describing techniques for limiting forestry-caused water quality degradation. While these BMPs are widely implemented, their effectiveness in protecting water quality is largely unknown. To determine the effectiveness of these BMPs, this thesis research conducted three studies to address timber harvest BMP effectiveness on protection of stream dissolved oxygen, metabolism, and carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus runoff in a low-gradient watershed, Flat Creek, in north-central Louisiana, USA. The first two studies were carried out on a 2nd-order stream adjacent to a loblolly pine stand from 2006 to 2010 that was harvested in the summer of 2007. Dissolved oxygen (DO), water temperature, and stream depth were recorded at 15-minute intervals at a reference site upstream and a site downstream of the harvested area. Using diurnal DO change and an open-system, single-station method at each site, we quantified rates of net productivity (NP), gross primary productivity (GPP), community respiration (CR), and GPP/CR ratios. The third study was conducted at nine sites across the Flat Creek watershed, from 1st-order to 3rd-order streams, for analyses of immediate downstream and watershed-scale changes to stream carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentrations from three timber harvests conducted in 2007. There were no statistically significant changes to any measured carbon, nitrogen, or phosphorus species at either the forest stand scale, or at the watershed scale. Overall, results from this research suggest that Louisianas current BMPs were effective at limiting water quality degradation.

Changing hydrology and climate have significantly altered ecologically significant cypress-tupelo forests in the deltaic plain of the Mississippi River. Though local responses of these swamps to hydrology are relatively well understood, broad-scale evaluation of ecological response differences of deltaic wetland forests has been limited by the lack of site-specific coupled hydrologic and ecological data. Baldcypress tree-rings from twenty-two sites were used to examine the responses of coastal swamp forests throughout the deltaic plain to environmental variables. The responses of these forests to environmental variables varied spatially; however, broad-scale measures of deltaic hydrology were more correlated with tree radial growth than were climatic variables. A strong relationship between coastal water levels and river stage suggests that river stage often controls coastal water levels near the coast, so that even sites not locally hydrologically connected to the river experience broad-scale effects of annual variability in Mississippi river stage. Thus, even though the river is leveed, river stage appears to have significant impacts on forest productivity through linkages with coastal water levels.

A suitable foraging habitat model based on prey density, biomass, and energy values in varying hydrologic conditions can provide an objective quantifiable method to assess habitat conditions for the Whooping Crane (<i>Grus americana</i>). Nekton and macroinvertebrates are considered the important prey sources in Whooping Crane's diet at different times. This study focuses on the understanding of habitat relationships of nekton and macroinvertebrate assemblage in the Chenier Plain to provide a foundation for the development for foraging suitability models for the reintroduced Whooping Crane. In this dissertation, in a laboratory study I experimentally examined the effect of salinity on the survival of dominant macroinvertebrates in freshwater marsh (i.e., <i>Procambarus clarkii</i> Girard, <i>Cambarellus puer</i> Hobbs, Libellulidae, Dytiscidae). In addition, I compared nekton and aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages in freshwater, brackish and saline marshes of the Chenier Plain. In the laboratory experiment, to determine survival rate, a series of 45 cm x 30 cm x 15 cm plastic trays were filled with water of six salinities (i.e., 0.6, 7.2, 13.5, 19.4, 25.1, and 30.7 g/lTDS) both with and without prey for 28 days. At the lower threshold, low salinities (i.e.,¡Ü 0.6 g/lTDS) allowed species to survive even without food. Above the upper threshold, however, high salinities (i.e.,¡Ý 25.1g/lTDS) killed species whether they had food or not. Survival of all species was affected by salinity but upper and lower thresholds existed for each species. In the field studies, I measured the effects of hydrologic connectivity on several environmental variables and their combined effect on several nekton community metrics. I collected 31,011nekton of 42 taxa from 540 seasonal samples with a throw trap and minnow traps. Nekton density of brackish ponds was higher than saline ponds but freshwater ponds did not statistically differ from brackish and saline ponds. However, nekton biomass of brackish and saline ponds was greater than freshwater ponds. Nekton community diversity of freshwater ponds had the highest diversity. Nekton community composition appeared to be structured by individual species responses to the salinity gradient as well as pond habitat attributes (submerged aquatic vegetation coverage, dissolved oxygen, hydrologic connectivity). To determine the effects of hydrologic connectivity and environmental variables on aquatic macroinvertebrate community metrics, I collected 32,130 aquatic macroinvertebrates from 52 taxa from 252 monthly sweep net samples. A total of 50 taxa were identified in freshwater marsh, 20 in brackish marsh, and 12 in saline marsh. Freshwater marsh had 32 exclusive taxa but brackish and saline did not have any exclusive taxa. Furthermore, density, biomass, and diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates in freshwater ponds were higher than in brackish and saline ponds. Variation in life history traits of macroinvertebrates and responses to environmental conditions (water depth, salinity) seem to be influenced macroinvertebrate assemblages across multiple marsh types.

Harvest of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is a primary contributor to oyster reef habitat disturbance in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The impacts of oyster dredging on reef substrate and resident fauna have not been thoroughly examined on the extensive sub-tidal oyster reefs of Louisiana. Several reef structure and resident community metrics were compared on unharvested and harvested reefs during the spring, summer, and fall of 2010. Unharvested reefs had higher amounts of oyster clusters, solid reef substrate, and more large oysters, while harvested reefs had higher amounts of loose shell, mixed shell/mud substrate, and elevated chlorophyll-a levels. Overall, faunal densities did not differ with harvest status and dominant species were similar, although greater invertebrate diversity was found on harvested reefs. Several resident species were found to primarily associate with live oysters [freckled blenny (Hypsoblennius ionthas) and skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus)] and chlorophyll-a levels [Harris mud crab (Rhithropanopeus harrisii) and snapping shrimp (Alpheus sp.)], indicating the importance of live oysters in determining reef microhabitat preferences by regulating types of available food sources. Condition (weight:length ratio) of naked gobies (Gobiosoma bosc) was greater on unharvested reefs, while other common fish species showed no difference. Large interstitial spaces associated with oyster clusters appear to enable several fish species to reach larger sizes at unharvested reefs and promote retention of age = 0 G. bosc. Stable isotope values (del 13C and del 15N) of dominant species and basal food sources were used to compare food web characteristics between sites. Non-pelagic source contributions and trophic positions of dominant species were elevated at harvested sites. Trophic order did not differ suggesting that no major shifts in feeding behavior occur at harvested reefs with the exception of zooplankton (trophic position increased substantially at harvested sites). While not changing total refuge capacity, oyster harvest appears to decrease the number of large oysters and also fragment solid reef area, resulting in elevated phytoplankton abundance, decreased benthopelagic coupling, and increased habitat heterogeneity. A larger forage base in the water column and mixed shell/mud substrate could account for increased invertebrate diversity and trophic position elevations on harvested oyster reefs.