![](http://cas.loyno.edu/sites/cas.loyno.edu/files/styles/body_featured_image/public/achievements/delta.png?itok=6euHunGH)
Dr. David White (emeritus) from the Department of Biological Sciences and the Program in the Environment at Loyola University New Orleans with expertise in “landscape plant ecology” of greater southeastern Louisiana has published the results of an important study of nearly 3 decades of research within the Mississippi River “Birdfoot'' Delta. The paper titled “Twenty-eight Years of Plant Community Development and Dynamics in the Balize Mississippi River Delta, Louisiana, USA '' can be found in the appropriately named international journal “Water”. By field collection of wetland vegetation and environmental data on Delta National Wildlife Refuge, many quality Loyola students gained experience with life-long impacts. The study has broad implications to all wetlands along the Louisiana coast. The refuge’s land formation and existence mirrors most of the State’s coastlands. The exhaustive study collected many tons of plant material of over 50 plant wetland taxa. The research discovered the impacts of salt from tropical storms, herbivory, and particularly the River’s water quality over years and by season. It particularly highlighted the common successional change in the wetland plant communities formed by the deltaic process. Also, the flora itself played a role in land formation through its influence on deltaic channel development. It matters what the river and climate brings to the State’s wetlands. Deltaic ecosystems indeed are impacted by both natural and human perturbations. The change in climate is no small problem to the ecology of these wetlands.