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CHAPTER IV: WILDLIFE HABITATS FOR MISSISSIPPI’S SGCN,

THREATS AND CONSERVATION ACTIONS^130

lack of trees, canebrakes were among the first lands selected for farming by early settlers. Furthermore,
cane regrowth after burns provided quality forage for livestock. Because of their rapid conversion to
agriculture, little is known about the ecology of these areas.

A few localities in the Delta still contain canebrakes, but they have become dense with trees creating a
sparser, less vigorous growth of giant cane. Of particular note is the extirpation of the Bachman’s
warbler, which was last heard in canebrakes, its required habitat.

LOCATION, SIZE, CONDITION AND CONSERVATION STATUS
EGCP, UEGCP

The lower slope/high terrace hardwood forests subtype is found in narrow linear
patches along small creeks, where flooding is minimal and/or of brief duration.
On larger streams and rivers, they are situated on high terraces and levees, and
are bounded at the lower end of the mesosere by the wetter bottomland forest
type and at the higher end of the mesosere by moist upland areas. They occur in
irregular patches, from 100 to 10,000 acres in size. Nearly 900,000 acres of this
subtype are estimated to occur in Mississippi.

Being somewhat drier than bottomland forests (subtype 4.1), these forests have experienced a greater
degree of conversion, fragmentation, and logging pressure. These habitats are valued because of their
high productivity. Many areas that formerly supported this subtype have been converted to pine
plantations.

This subtype is vulnerable in the state due to its somewhat restricted distribution, and by recent and
widespread declines caused by increased logging pressure, conversion to other uses and fragmentation
(particularly around urban areas).

SPECIES OF GREATEST CONSERVATION NEED ASSOCIATED WITH
LOWER SLOPE/HIGH TERRACE HARDWOOD FORESTS

GROUP SCIENTIFIC NAME COMMON NAME TIER
Amphibians Plethodon websteri Webster's Salamander 2
Rana areolata Crawfish Frog 2
Birds Dendroica cerulea Cerulean Warbler 2
Limnothlypis swainsonii Swainson's Warbler 2
Euphagus carolinus Rusty Blackbird 2
Oporornis formosus Kentucky Warbler 3
Scolopax minor American Woodcock 3
Seiurus motacilla Louisiana Waterthrush 3
Protonotaria citrea Prothonotary Warbler 3

3.4 Lower Slope/

Range of Lower Slope/

High Terrace Hardwood

Forests