This program was started in 1989 as a series of graduate student thesis projects designed to ferret out some of the reasons for the apparent lack of natural regeneration of baldcypress trees in the Manchac/Maurepas area of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. Our progress was slow in the early years, but as the initial data were analyzed our survival rates for the young saplings grew. We have now reached a respectable rate of about 80% survival for saplings after year one. Our knowledge about this fascinating ecosystem continues to grow at a steady rate as we use previously-planted trees as experimental units in new studies. Currently we have approximately 6,000 saplings ranging in age from year one to year seven with which to conduct research. This natural laboratory provides a fascinating basis for just one direction of study in our research program (for other directions look here).
The current direction of this restoration project is outlined here.
