The National Wetlands Research Center’s exhibit on Threatened and Endangered Species is now on display at the Edith Garland Dupré Library on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus.
The display runs through July 31. It can be seen during library hours: 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday; and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Near the library's main entrance, a display case highlights the whooping crane and the spectacled eider, a large diving duck. An exhibit focusing on illegal trade in animal goods is also adjacent to the entrance. Items forfeited to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, including an olive ridley turtle hide, an elephant hair bracelet, and seashell plated napkin rings, are on view.
Display cases located along the main hallway offer information on endangered and threatened plants and wildlife such as sea turtles, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. One display case is devoted to the red-cockaded woodpecker and ivory-billed woodpecker; both are endangered. Another case focuses on the conservation of birds and their habitat. Another section provides information on the coastal prairie, more than 99 percent of which has been lost to agriculture, range improvement, and urbanization.
A copy of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (as amended through the 108th Congress), along with books on the wildlife refuge system, predicting species occurrences, and inventory and monitoring, round out the exhibit.
Linda Broussard, Cassie Thibodeaux, and John Breaux of the USGS NWRC Library prepared the exhibit. The NWRC library is part of the U.S. Geological Survey and is the only USGS library dedicated to wetland science. The NWRC library participates in international cataloging and resource sharing, which allows libraries from throughout the world to borrow from its collections. This sharing facilitates the research of other governmental agencies, universities, and those interested in the study of wetlands.
For more information, visits the library's website at www.nwrc.usgs.gov/library.htm.