CHAPTER 1I: APPROACH AND METHODS 43
Part 6. Classifying and Ranking Wildlife Habitats in Mississippi
A required element of the CWCS process was to produce “descriptions of locations and relative
condition of key habitats and ecological community types essential to conservation of species identified”
as SGCN. To address this element, experts identified and prioritized the habitats and ecological
communities for potential SGCN through the survey instrument found in Appendix III. Associating
SGCN to their habitats and communities guided the process of prioritizing conservation actions to be
taken. Targeting key habitats for conservation actions is often an effective way to ensure long-term
survival of many SGCN. Prioritizing and implementing actions that protect, conserve or enhance
habitats or communities shared by multiple SGCN should increase return on investments.
Habitat is defined as the specific
place(s) where a particular plant or
animal lives. It is usually used in a
much more restricted sense than
environment and refers to a smaller
area; e.g. “spring brook, tree top, weedy
pond and sandy beach.” Habitat types,
as defined by physical parameters,
encapsulate unique environments that
generally support particular biotic
associations, also referred to as
ecological communities. Organisms that survive in these groups are those that are most “fit” to live
within the constraints of the environmental factors at hand. Competitive exclusion may occur within the
suite of habitat occupants. The biotic association is the composite of species that have adapted to the
habitat type and thus are considered to be associated to a particular set of environmental parameters.
However, the spatial boundaries between ecological communities are often difficult to establish due to
the gradual changes in environmental characteristics and species composition and the imperfect
correlation of species to these environmental parameters.
A community is collectively, all of the organisms inhabiting a common environment and interacting
with each other and is used with a wide variety of implications by different ecologists; some include
only the living organisms within the concept; others maintain that the living organisms cannot be
separated from their inanimate surroundings and must include both of these major aspects. This term is
also variously used with reference to very small to very large units.
The terms habitat and ecological community have different, but overlapping meanings. Guidelines for
this CWCS require a focus on wildlife (animal) conservation. We proposed the list of habitat types and
subtypes listed within their respective ecoregions (see Chapter III for ecoregion descriptions) as units to