Lake Louise

The Lake Louise Field Station (LLFS) is a 140-acre field station located 9 miles south of Valdosta State University’s main campus. Originally used for agriculture and forestry, the field station was purchased by VSU to support environmental education and research. The diverse habitats at the station, which include a 14-acre sink hole lake, forested wetland, and upland pine forest, have supported an array of research projects and hands-on learning experiences in biology, chemistry, and geosciences for 50 years. Studies at the station include the monitoring of a rare plant species (Baptisia arachnifera) and the state listed gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), and surveys of the lake’s macro and microorganisms and its biogeochemical composition.  

Facilities

Facilities at the LLFS include a dock and boardwalk around the lake and a pavilion for classroom instruction.

---

---

Plant Inventory

Trees

• Taxodium distichum
• Pinus elliottii
• Myrica cerifera
• Quercus hemisphaerica
• Quercus virginiana
• Quercus laeva
• Quercus incana
• Quercus falcata

Understory Plants

• Vaccinium myrsinites
• Ilex glabra
• Lyonia ferruginea

Woody Plants

• Nyssa biflora
• Acer rubrum
• Pinus serotina
• Magnolia virginiana
• Liriodendron tulipifera

Shrubs

• Cyrilla racemiflora
• Leucothoe axillaris
• Lyonia lucida
• Lyonia ligustrina
• Clethra alnifolia
• Cliftonia monophylla
• Ilex glabra
• Persea palustris
• Viburnum nudum
• Rhododendron viscosum (Azalea viscosum)

Ferns

• Osmunda cinnamomea
• Osmunda regalis
• Woodwardia virginica
• Woodwardia areolata