Cover

CHAPTER IV: WILDLIFE HABITATS FOR MISSISSIPPI’S SGCN,

THREATS AND CONSERVATION ACTIONS^127

Consequently much of the region was exposed to significant erosion on the slopes and grossly excessive
sedimentation in adjoining terraces and in streams. The silty loess soils are highly erodible in nature.
Subsequent to this erosion cycle, much of the region was abandoned with respect to agricultural pursuits,
allowing return of forest cover. Some areas have recovered to such an extent that it is difficult to discern
that they were cultivated. The steepest areas remain the least likely to have been previously cultivated
and maintain some of the highest diversity. Some lands are managed for hardwood timberland, but the
risk of erosion during logging of these sites is often high. Chinese privet, an exotic shrub, has
thoroughly infiltrated these forests, and is especially abundant in forests surrounding urban areas.

The loess hardwood forest is imperiled in the state because of extensive habitat modification following
erosion problems caused by historical agricultural conversion, and because of the current threat of
additional fragmentation resulting from homesteading and urbanization around population centers.
Invasion of exotic shrubs and kudzu, and effects associated with commercial timber management (this
includes conversion to pine forests and regeneration problems following clearcutting or high-grading of
hardwood forests) are other factors that render this subtype vulnerable to additional decline.

SPECIES OF GREATEST CONSERVATION NEED ASSOCIATED WITH

LOESS HARDWOOD FORESTS

GROUP SCIENTIFIC NAME COMMON NAME TIER

Amphibians Plethodon websteri Webster's Salamander 2
Birds Dendroica cerulea Cerulean Warbler 2
Limnothlypis swainsonii Swainson's Warbler 2
Helmitheros vermivorus Worm-Eating Warbler 3
Oporornis formosus Kentucky Warbler 3
Seiurus motacilla Louisiana Waterthrush 3
Piranga olivacea Scarlet Tanager 3
Hylocichla mustelina Wood Thrush 3
Campephilus principalis Ivory-Billed Woodpecker 4
Migrant Songbirds
Fish Phoxinus erythrogaster Southern Redbelly Dace 2
Mammals Ursus americanus luteolus Louisiana Black Bear 1
Myotis austroriparius Southeastern Myotis 1
Myotis lucifugus Little Brown Myotis 2
Ursus americanus Black Bear 2
Lasiurus cinereus Hoary Bat 2
Myotis grisescens Gray Myotis 2
Lasiurus intermedius Northern Yellow Bat 2
Myotis septentrionalis Northern Myotis 2
Myotis sodalis Indiana Or Social Myotis 4
Lasionycteris noctivagans Silver-Haired Bat 4