CHAPTER IV: WILDLIFE HABITATS FOR MISSISSIPPI’S SGCN,

THREATS AND CONSERVATION ACTIONS^87

U pland forests of this type have limited nutrient and/or moisture availability due to the nature of the

soils, which are shallow, coarse-textured and well drained. Subtypes of this category include dry to

moderately moist hardwood and pine forest associations. Mixed pine-hardwood habitats are classified

as either pine or hardwood subtypes, depending on whether pines or hardwoods are more abundant. Fire

played an important role in maintaining these habitats by reducing densities of young saplings, recycling

nutrients and oxidizing ground litter.

This type includes four subtypes: 1.1 Dry Hardwood Forests, 1.2 Dry Longleaf Pine Forests, 1.3

Dry-Mesic Hardwood Forests and 1.4 Dry-Mesic Shortleaf/Loblolly Pine Forests.

GENERAL CONDITION

Ecosystems can be lost or impoverished in basically two ways. The most obvious kind of loss is

quantitative such as the conversion of a natural forest to a cotton field or to a parking lot. Quantitative

losses can be measured easily by a decline in extent of a discrete ecosystem type (i.e., one that can be

mapped). The second kind of loss is qualitative and involves a change or degradation in the structure,

function, or composition of an ecosystem. At some level of degradation, an ecosystem ceases to be

natural. For example, a tract of oak-hickory woodlands may be high-graded by removing the largest,

healthiest, and frequently, the genetically superior trees. Qualitative changes may be expressed

quantitatively but in less precise terms than estimates of habitat conversion. In some cases, as in the

conversion of an old-growth forest to a pine plantation, the qualitative changes in structure and function

are sufficiently severe to qualify as complete habitat loss. General forest cover statistics indicate a larger

percentage of the Mississippi landscape is occupied by pine, hardwood or mixed forest types. However,

the condition of the forest, whether cutover, natural, semi-natural or cultivated, is usually not available.

Although there are no estimates of the losses of Dry-Mesic Upland Forests/Woodlands in Mississippi, it

is possible to envisage their overall condition by understanding the extent of development pressure

generated on these habitats. Historically, large areas of upland hardwood and pine forest were converted

to agricultural croplands and pasture. The tracts that were chosen were selected from the areas

containing the most productive landforms and soils. Most landforms of the coastal plain are not

excessively steep or isolated and are therefore accessible to either timber management or agricultural

usage.

1. DRY TO MESIC (DRY TO MODERATELY MOIST)

UPLAND FORESTS/WOODLAND