In the 2012 President's Budget Request, the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) is terminated. As a result, all resources, databases, tools, and applications within this web site will be removed on January 15, 2012. For more information, please refer to the NBII Program Termination page.
Additionally, the Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) information system contains data on nutria including collection info, Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUC), distribution point maps, and a fact sheet.
[Image courtesy of USGS National Wetlands Research Center]
Nutria
Nutria [Photo: USGS, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program]
Nutria, Eating Louisiana's Coast states that "[n]utria live in fresh, intermediate, and brackish marshes and wetlands and feed on vegetation (herbivory) that is vital to sustaining the Louisiana coastline. Their 'eat-outs' create openings in the marsh vegetation, and they are currently affecting an estimated 100,000 acres of coastal wetlands."
Additionally, "high population densities can be especially damaging to wetland vegetation and further wetland loss. Nutria predominately feed on the base of plant stems and dig for roots and rhizomes in the winter. Their grazing can strip large patches of marsh, and their digging overturns the marsh's upper peat layer. Plant growth can be reduced when grazing is intensive with little recovery time for the plants or when grazing is coupled with other sources of stress."
Nutria in the News
Bayou Bounty Hunter
"The coastal marshes of Louisiana are dynamic and they are resilient, but when you start putting multiple stressors on even the most resilient system, they will start to break down." Jacoby Carter, research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wetlands Research Center in Lafayette.
