CHAPTER IV: WILDLIFE HABITATS FOR MISSISSIPPI’S SGCN,
THREATS AND CONSERVATION ACTIONS^163ogs require sublateral seepage flow from adjacent uplands. Rainfall will perch and seep laterally B
down slope where moisture resurfaces on gentle slopes and flats. Bogs are found on flats, swales, toe
slopes and on terraces of rivulets and creeks.
Bogs usually occur as small patches, but can extend across extensive flats or continue along hill slopes
for mile, if sufficiently supported by a series of seepage zones. Paradoxically, they can occur on
elevated positions on some landscapes. The flora of large bogs is similar to wet pine savannas.
However, bogs tend to be situated in swales and depressions where soils are wetter and contain a higher
amount of organic matter. They are also seepage-fed and are small in size. Wet savannas are found on
wide flats or gentle slopes usually near the coast. They are ombrotrophic, or precipitation-fed, are larger
and may include some uplands. Exposure to fire and prolonged soil saturation influence the amount of
shrub cover in bogs.
This type includes one subtype: 8.1 Pitcherplant Flat/Bogs.
GENERAL CONDITION
The primary conditions adversely impacting these habitats are logging activities and the lack of
prescribed burns. Without fire, bogs become inaccessible due to the thick lattice produced by a network
of vines and shrubs. Other forestry practices are harmful to bogs. Bedding is a practice that creates
deep furrows in series across the boggy wetlands. The practice drains soggy lowlands and provides an
elevated berm for trees to root. It severely alters the quality of the wetland and dramatically changes the
composition of the bog vegetation. Bedding is often accompanied with dense plantings of pine and the
elimination of fire, which subsequently leads to dramatic increases in shrub growth. In Louisiana, 25 to
50 percent of the hillside seepage bogs have been destroyed. There has been a 97 percent loss of Gulf
Coast pitcher plant bogs.