Swamp - Bald Cypress and Tupelo gum

Hello y'all!

As everybody knows, swamp is one of the most important wetlands in Louisiana. In these areas that are usually flooded and have woody vegetation, the characteristics species include the Bald Cypress and the Tupelo Gum.

Bald Cypress (Taxodium disticum)

Tupelo gum (Nyssa aquatica)

A good way to differentiate these species is analyze their trunk bases. Both species have the base of the trunk greatly swelled. However, cypress trees are fluted near the ground while tupelo gums taper smoothly to a wider base.

You can easily notice the difference between them in the pictures above. Next time that you go to the swamps try to do it! :)

Louisiana Bats

In the state of Louisiana we can find 12 species of bats. They are Lasiurus borealis, Lasiurus intermedius, Lasiurus cinereus, Lasionycteris noctivagans, Corynorhinus rafinesquii, Lasiurus seminolus, Eptesicus fuscus, Myotis septentrionalis, Myotis austroriparius, Perimyotis subflavus, Nycticeius humeralis, and Tadarida brasiliensis.

One curiosity about the bats of Louisiana is that they do not hibernate.This happens because Louisiana state does not have low temperatures as the other states have, which enables the bats to stay in activity during the entire year.

Other curiosity is that there are no caves at Louisiana areas, and caves are one of the most common sites of roosting for bats. Therefore in Louisiana they usually roost in men-made structures and trees.

Keep checking out our blog to know about specific curiosities and habits of all species.

Introduction

Hello everybody,

We are Julia L. Henke, Marcelle Daoud, and Talita A. Maia, a group of Brazilian exchange students of the program Science Without Borders. We are studying Biology at Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana U.S.

We created this blog, Biodiversity of Louisiana, to allow you to better understand about the wonderful biodiversity of Lousiana state.

Here we will post informations about the typical vegetation and the different species of plants and animals that can be found around the state and we will also show different natural areas that can be visited.

Any suggestions or questions, please email us at biologywithoutborders2014@gmail.com