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CHAPTER III: MISSISSIPPI’S ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK-ECOREGIONS OF MISSISSIPPI 62

TNC delineated ecoregions across the United States and were the first to use ecoregions as a basis for
comprehensive conservation planning on a national scale. They define ecoregions as:

...relatively large units of land delineated by large-scale abiotic and biotic factors that broadly

shape the structure and function of biological communities within them.

The following are descriptions of the four ecoregions that encompass Mississippi, as directly excerpted
from TNC's respective Ecoregional Plans. They are the East Gulf Coastal Plain (EGCP), the
Mississippi River Alluvial Plain (MSRAP), the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGM) and the Upper
East Gulf Coastal Plain (UEGCP). This ecoregional classification will be used throughout this CWCS.
All habitat types and subtypes as well as Mississippi SGCN have been identified by ecoregion for
planning purposes (see Appendices VII and VIII for these respective lists).

TNC Ecoregions Found in MississippiEast Gulf Coastal Plain

Mississippi River Alluvial PlainNorthern Gulf of Mexico

Upper East Gulf Coastal Plain

Mississippi's CWCS EcoregionsEast Gulf Coastal Plain

Mississippi River Alluvial Plain

Northern Gulf of MexicoUpper East Gulf Coastal Plain

Total area of four ecoregions

that encompass the state of

Mississippi as defined by The

Nature Conservancy.