“Most cypress stands today are second growth, but there still remain
a few giants among us. They exist because they are hollow and thus
not merchantable or because they grow in an area so remote as to make
harvest unfeasible. They tower one hundred feet above the earth and
laid down their first annular rings during the classical period of the Mayan culture…….
Bear Bayou, St. Mary Parish
…..They germinated and grew into seedling as Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman emperor.
They were sound and mature when the sun gleamed from the swords of Hernando DeSoto’s men
as they marched across northeast Louisiana in a fruitless search for gold……
Bayou Chemin- A-Haute, Morehouse Parish
…..It is possible that their limbs were once laden with the weight of a thousand
passenger pigeons and that their bark was probed by ivory-billed woodpeckers.
Cougars and bears may have sought refuge in their hollows. It is likely that
a few of these will still be greeting each spring with a fresh feathering of needle-like
leaves in centuries to come” Kelby Ouchley
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Exploring Old Growth Cypress in Northern Louisiana
The KEDM listening area includes lakes, bayous and wetlands where you can discover some
of the finest old growth cypress in Louisiana. Getting out and exploring these centuries old
cypress is will help spread the word that old growth cypress is worth protecting.
Perhaps none is better known in this region than the the "Castle Tree" located in Chemin-a-Haute
State Park. The Bayou Chapter of the Ozark Society has led paddling trips to view this amazing
tree, as well as trips to view other LPCL landmarked trees
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Location of "Castle Tree" in Chemin a Haut State Park, Morehouse Parish Louisiana Purchase Cypress Legacy coordinator Harvey Stern Right took core samples from the largest cypress tree in Chem-A-Haut Creek with assistance from Chem-A-Haut State Park Manager Russ Brantlay Largest cypress in parish gets recognition By Wes Helbling Posted Mar 06, 2012 @ 11:30 AM Last update Mar 13, 2012 @ 01:37 PM BASTROP — Harvey Stern came to Morehouse Parish over the weekend to see a castle that predates the state of Louisiana, possibly by centuries. Stern, who is the coordinator of the Louisiana Purchase Cypress Legacy program, said he became interested in visiting Chemin-A-Haut Creek after finding a description of its “large, old-growth cypress” trees in a topographical map of Louisiana. “The Castle” he came to document is an approximately 20-foot-diameter cypress tree in the middle of the creek, with a hollow cavern large enough to paddle canoes and kayaks inside. “It’s such a unique tree,” said Stern. “It’s exactly the kind we’re looking for – the kind that shows there’s still some old growth worth preserving in Louisiana.” On Saturday, Chemin-A-Haut State Park Manager Russ Brantley and paddler Joe Rolfe of Oak Ridge took Stern to the Castle to measure its circumference and took core samples. He said it may take a few days for the samples to dry out so that a “guesstimate” can be made as to the tree’s age by comparing the number of rings to the Castle’s radius. A tributary of Bayou Bartholomew, Chemin-A-Haut Creek was overlooked by the 19th timber industry and today boasts some of the oldest and largest cypress trees in Louisiana. Some of the most impressive trees have gained nicknames from local paddlers, such as twin-trunked “Jester” and the storm-felled “Blowdown.” Stern said high water in the creek, and the tree’s hollow buttress, posed special challenges for Saturday’s attempt to determine the Castle’s age. However, its enormous girth was enough for Stern to present Brantley with a plaque that will be affixed to the Castle, designating it as the sixth tree in Louisiana that was “Alive in 1812,” the year of Louisiana’s statehood. “Based on other trees I’ve cored, I have a pretty good idea it’s several centuries old,” he said. “It’s old enough to be a [Louisiana] Bicentennial tree. The question is, how many centuries do you add to that?” Other cypress trees that will be included in the Bicentennial project are located in Tickfaw State Park, Jean Lafitte National Park and sites in Plaquemines and Webster parishes. A number of ancient cypress trees have already been designated throughout the state by the Legacy program, which marks trees that were living at the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Recently, a tree examined in Washington Parish was found to be roughly 800 years old. The largest bald cypress in the U.S., with a 53-foot circumference, is located in Louisiana’s Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge. Stern said he has previously designated a cypress tree in Morehouse Parish, closer to the Arkansas line, that is believed to be “well over 500 years old.” This tree is located in what “as beautiful a stand of old-growth cypress as I’ve seen anywhere in the state. You can’t get a bass boat through that part of the bayou because the trees are so thick.” Stern said formal recognition of the Castle may also enhance state and local projects to establish and promote paddle trails in both Bartholomew and Chemin-A-Haut. Based on a visit to Morehouse Parish last fall, river guide John Ruskey notes the cypress trees “monolithically reaching to the sky” in his paddle guide to Chemin-A-Haut Creek. Ruskey writes, “Trees this big are at least 1,000 years old … They saw Hernando de Soto, La Salle, the rise of the French Empire and the sale of the Louisiana Purchase. They lived through the birth of the American West, the Civil and the Industrial Age. If not logged or submerged they will outlive us all ...” When Stern has determined an estimated age for the Castle based on the core samples, its location and data will be catalogued on the LPCL Web site (www.lapurchasecypresslegacy.blogspot.com) Plans are also in the works for a Web site dedicated to the “Alive in 1812” Bicentennial trees. |
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The "Zac Burson" Tree-- Plaque #26, Bodcau Bayou, Bossier Parish |
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| Bayou Chemin a Haute between Hwy 590 and the Arkansas State Line in Morehouse Parish *********** |
Louisiana Delta Adventures
Mr. Grizzle has kindly contributed an excellent summary of his research in Northern Louisiana regarding the symbiotic interplay of the alligator snapping turtle and other endemic turtles to the mature cypress ecosystems they have traditionally inhabited. We are happy to include his research findings below:
Chelonians of the Southern Wilds:
The Importance of Turtles to the Conservation of Cypress Ecosystems
Ben Grizzle
Cypress brake in Caldwell Parish--habitat of the Alligator snapping turtle
Turtles are among the most endangered groups of vertebrate animals on Earth. The IUCN estimates that 60% of global turtle species are threatened, endangered, or have gone extinct in modern times. The American South is home to an exceptionally rich assemblage of turtle species, one that is rivaled in its diversity only by the Ganges basin of southern Asia. Some 45 species occur in this region, due in large part to the incredible diversity of its rivers and wetland habitats. Historically, many of these species thrived in the vast swaths of old-growth Cypress and Tupelo forest that dominated the Southern lowlands. The roles they play in these ecosystems are both complex and critically important.
Cypress grove in an impoundment in Union Parish. The permanent flooding of this formerly seasonal wetland will likely have a negative impact on recruitment of Cypress seedlings.
One of the most basic and essential roles turtles play in Cypress bottomlands is that of primary, secondary, and even tertiary consumers. Perhaps the most famous chelonian inhabitant of these wetlands is the Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii and suwanniensis). These prehistoric predators can grow to well over 100 pounds and live for more than a century. They are well known as sit-and-wait predators of fish, mammals, and even other turtles, sitting in the mud and using the bright-colored lure on their tongue to attract their unwitting prey. However, this role as an apex predator is only part of their contribution to the ecosystem. Studies of stomach contents and fecal matter have revealed Alligator Snappers to be prolific scavengers of carrion, with many feeding on dead fish, deer, and feral hogs. Even more noteworthy is the frequency with which they are found to have ingested vegetation. In one study of Alligator Snappers from Arkansas and Louisiana, vegetative matter was found in the digestive tracts of 108 of the 109 turtles examined. While some of the vegetation may have been ingested accidentally, the abundance of acorns and Tupelo fruit suggests that Alligator Snappers seek out both hard and soft mast as food. In this way, Alligator Snappers may even act as seed dispersers. Anecdotally, I have observed Alligator Snappers in the fall with oily black stains on their beaks and inside their mouths. This discoloration could very well be the result of foraging on tannin-rich acorns.
Large male Alligator Snapper displaying tannin stains (Ouachita Parish)
It isn’t just the large turtles that play important roles either. Anyone familiar with the swamps of the deep south knows that the base of the food chain is dominated by one group of invertebrates: crayfish. In shallow, seasonally flooded Cypress forests, turtles are among the top consumers of these freshwater crustaceans. Mud Turtles (Kinosternon spp.), Musk Turtles (Sternotherus odoratus), Sliders (Trachemys scripta), and Common Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) are important consumers of crayfish and other invertebrates, providing a regulatory force on their populations. The presence of a healthy population of these secondary consumers is also a major driver of nutrient cycling, which can be crucial in the nutrient-poor conditions of a Cypress swamp. The presence of omnivorous turtles has also been experimentally demonstrated to alter environmental characteristics such as pH and sedimentation in positive ways.
Mississippi Mud Turtle (Union Parish)
The relationship between turtles and Cypress wetlands goes both ways. Cypress forest is a critical habitat for several threatened turtle species, such as the aforementioned Alligator Snapping Turtle, Alabama Red-bellied Turtles (Pseudemys alabamensis), Chicken Turtles (Deirochelys reticularia), and Spotted Turtles (Clemmys guttata). These species heavily utilize both permanently and ephemerally flooded Cypress forests in the southeast.
Unfortunately, much like the turtles that inhabit them, these forests have become endangered. Because of their deep interconnectedness, the conservation of Cypress forests and freshwater turtles is inextricably linked. The threats they face are virtually identical. Overexploitation by humans, development, alterations in hydrology, and invasive species are the major threats facing both turtles and their habitat today. Conservation of both is a complex issue, with dozens of confounding factors that must be considered in any strategy moving forward. One dire concept that applies to both turtles and Cypress trees is that of extinction debt. In species with slow growth rates and long generation times (i.e. Alligator Snapping Turtles and Bald Cypress trees), the persistence of many mature organisms on the landscape is not necessarily an indicator of a healthy population. Because these species take several years to reach reproductive age and produce few viable offspring even under the best conditions, deficiencies in recruitment and reproduction can take decades to manifest in any obvious way, by which time a collapse in the population may be unavoidable. For both species, alterations in hydrology and invasion by exotic species such as fire ants, feral hogs, and Chinese Tallow trees are the main culprits behind these losses in recruitment.
In all, turtles are some of the most important animal residents of the Southeastern Cypress forests. Their contributions to the ecology of these habitats, as well as their reliance on them, have played out over millions of years. Today, they both face the greatest threats in their respective histories, and to save one we must necessarily save the other. There is hope, as extensive ecological restoration programs are currently being undertaken across the Southeast. However, it is only with the support and understanding of the general public that these magnificent ecosystems and their unique inhabitants will be able to persist for generations to come.
Mississippi Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica kohni basking on the buttress of a Cypress in Ouachita Parish
References and Further Reading
Lovich JE, Ennen JR, Agha M, & Gibbons JW. 2018. “Where Have All the Turtles Gone, and Why Does it Matter?” BioScience 68:771-781.
Elsey RM. 2006. “Food Habits of Macrochelys temminckii (Alligator Snapping Turtle) from Arkansas and Louisiana.” Southeastern Naturalist 5:443-452
Ernst CH, Lovich JE. 2009. “Turtles of the United States and Canada.” Baltimore: JHU Press. 827pp.
