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CHAPTER IV: WILFLIFE HABITATS FOR MISSISSIPPI’S SGCN,

THREATS AND CONSERVATION ACTIONS^181

natural function of oxbow lakes. Natural fluctuations of water level in oxbow lakes benefit many
species throughout the food chain, including invertebrates, fish, ospreys and alligators.

General habitat characteristics of oxbow lakes can often be associated with age. As lakes migrate
further away from their mother streams over time, they tend to become shallower, more turbid and can
be expected to contain fish species more adapted to shallow habitats with low oxygen. Younger oxbow
lakes that maintain a higher degree of connectivity with streams tend to be deeper and clearer with a fish
assemblage composed of more fish-eating species.

LOCATION, SIZE, CONDITION AND CONSERVATION STATUS
EGCP, UEGP, MSRAP

The total acreage the Oxbow lakes subtype is approximately 70,000 acres.
Oxbows can be found on most small and medium sized creeks and rivers but are
most common along the largest river systems, especially in the ancient deltaic
plain of the Mississippi River. The lakes are surrounded by swamp and other
bottomland hardwood forests.

Oxbow lakes are formed by rivers that abandon their channels and form new
ones. If the rivers are confined by water control structures, additional oxbow
lakes are prevented from forming. Older ones gradually fill in and become swamp habitats. Some of the
lakes found in the Delta may have high concentrations of DDT pesticides in their bottom sediments.
There are no other significant concerns regarding the condition of this habitat.

Oxbow lakes are vulnerable in the state due to potential declines caused by water control structures that
have been installed on many of Mississippi's waterways

SPECIES OF GREATEST CONSERVATION NEED ASSOCIATED WITH
OXBOW LAKES

GROUP SCIENTIFIC NAME COMMON NAME TIER
Birds Migrant Shorebirds 1
Egretta caerulea Little Blue Heron 2
Eudocimus albus White Ibis 2
Mycteria americana Wood Stork 2
Haliaeetus leucocephalus Bald Eagle 2
Sterna antillarum athalass os Interior Least Tern 2
Elanoides forficatus Swallow-Tailed Kite 2
Nycticorax nycticorax Black-Crowned Night-Heron 3
Pandion haliaetus Osprey 3
Protonotaria citrea Prothonotary Warbler 3
Anas rubripes American Black Duck 3

Range of Oxbow Lakes