J.L. O'Connell

Coastal Marsh Restoration Using Terraces to Increase Waterbird Diversity and Abundance in Louisiana's Chenier Plain

Various techniques are available to enhance wildlife quality in coastal wetlands. A new technique is terrace construction. Terraces are constructed by dredging shallow open water areas and piling the dredged material to form an exposed surface that are planted with wetland vegetation. Unlike spoil banks, which are continuous and rise above normal tides, terraces are discontinuous and flood at high tide. Constructing terraces gained popularity as a restoration and mitigation technique since the first terraces were constructed in 1993 on Sabine National Wildlife Refuge. Since then, terraces...