Ecosystem restoration requires that an ecosystem be recreated where it has been degraded or destroyed.  Restoring diverse perennial grasslands that resemble coastal prairie requires knowledge of pre-existing composition and function, environmental conditions, and ecological reference information.  Products provided here represent information, data, and tools that may be used in planning and conducting coastal prairie restorations.

The informational brochure, "Paradise Lost? The Coastal Prairie of Louisiana and Texas," was produced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in partnership with the USGS and the Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation Society won second place in the Shoestring Budget Category of the National Association of Government Communicators' Blue Pencil Award. Project leader for development of the brochure was Vicki Grafe, refuge manager of the Lacassine NWR, while those responsible for producing the content of the brochure included Larry Allain (USGS National Wetlands Research Center), Vicki Grafe (Lacassine NWR), Malcom Vidrine (Lousiana State University at Eunice), Charles Allen (University of Louisiana at Monroe), and Steve Johnson (University of Louisiana at Lafayette). Additional funding and support for second edition printing was provided by the Anahuac NWR. The 39-page brochure not only provides an excellent overview of the history, flora, and fauna of the coastal prairie ecosystem, but it also provides useful information on restoration and management of this critically imperiled community type.

Coastal Prairie Restoration Information System: Version 1 (Louisiana)

Coastal Prairie Restoration Information System (CPR) is a software program that allows users to query and view data about coastal prairie species stored in a Microsoft Access database.  A variety of data are provided for each of 650 species including scientific, common and family names, authors, synonyms; plant characteristics such as origin, bloom color, bloom date, life span, height, growth form, seed size, and photosynthetic pathway; a range map and color photograph; text fields including a description, wildlife use, culture, natural history, and a list of references; wetland indicator categories and coefficients and floral quality values for each species.  Selecting names or characters from dropdown menus allows users to search the database for particular prairie plant species.
             
The database was developed at the U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center (USGS NWRS) by Larry Allain with software development by Mayra Silva of the NWRC.  Additional funding was provided by the ULL biology department, ULL Center for Environmental and Ecological Technology (CEET), and the National Science Foundation.

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