United States Department of Agriculture Mississippi's Forests, 2013 Sonja N. Oswalt Forest Service Southern Research Station Resource Bulletin SRS–204 About the Author Sonja N. Oswalt is a Forester with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis Research Work Unit, Knoxville, TN 37919. Front cover: top left, a serene wooded path winds through the forest at Tishomingo State Park, Tishomingo County, MS. (photo courtesy of Visit Mississippi/flickr.com); top right, Prothonotary warblers are common inhabitants of bottomland forests in Mississippi. (photo courtesy of Visit Mississippi/flickr.com); bottom, a bee gathers nectar from a wildflower at the NRCS Plant Materials Center in Coffeeville, MS. (photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Agriculture). Back cover: top left, Chewalla Lake and Holly Springs National Forest, Holly Springs, MS. (photo courtesy of Visit Mississippi/flickr.com); top right, a serene wooded path winds through the forest at Tishomingo State Park, Tishomingo County, MS. (photo courtesy of Visit Mississippi/flickr.com); bottom, Farm Bill programs like the Wetlands Reserve Program have helped populations of the Louisiana Black Bear increase in Mississippi. Biologists estimate the State to be home to 120 Black Bears. (photo by Brad Young, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks). Spoonleaf sundew (Drosera intermedia) is a carnivorous plant found in coastal Mississippi. (photo by James Henderson, Golden Delight Honey, Bugwood.org) www.srs.fs.usda.gov Mississippi's Forests, 2013 Sonja N. Oswalt Two young fishermen enjoy a forested riverbank in Greenwood, MS. (photo courtesy of Visit Mississippi/flickr.com) Flowering cogongrass invades a southern pine forest. (photo by Chris Evans, Bugwood.org) ii About Forest Inventory and Analysis Inventory Reports FOREWORD made to harmonize the data when possible. These data represent the most The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) comprehensive data collected on public and unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture private lands in the State. Forest Service, Southern Research Station (SRS) conducts continuous inventories Tabular data collected by FIA are available of forest resources in 13 Southern States to the public through various tools (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, accessible via the Internet at http://srsfia2. Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North fs.fed.us/. Data referenced in this report Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, were obtained from the Forest Inventory Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia), as well as and Analysis Database on May 19, 2014. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is a collaborative partnership with the Southern Group of State Foresters of these ACKNOWLEDGMENTS States, the Southern Region National Forest The SRS gratefully acknowledges the System, and State and Private forestry. Mississippi Forestry Commission for their cooperation and input during this This bulletin presents the findings of the survey. FIA field personnel, Information 2013 survey of Mississippi, which includes Management, Publication Management, field data collected in 2006, 2009, 2010, and Science Delivery staff are all due 2011, 2012, and 2013 and includes 3,668 thanks for their dedication and hard work forested plots out of 5,219 total plots. While and assistance. We also appreciate the sample protocols, processing procedures, cooperation of other public agencies and and definitions have changed over the private landowners for providing access to decades since FIA sampling in Mississippi measurement plots. began in the 1930s, attempts have been U.S. Forester, Christina Harper inventories a pine stand on the Bienville National Forest, MS. (photo by Christopher Locke, U.S. Forest Service) iii Contents Page About Forest Inventory and Analysis Reports............................................................. iii Foreword ....................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................ iii Contents ........................................................................................................................ iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................... v List of Tables ................................................................................................................. vi Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Area ............................................................................................................................... 2 Forest Ownership ........................................................................................................ 4 Stand Origin ................................................................................................................ 6 Age ............................................................................................................................. 7 Forest Composition ....................................................................................................... 8 Diversity ...................................................................................................................... 8 Volume ....................................................................................................................... 12 Growth, Removals, and Mortality ................................................................................ 15 Forest Health and Disturbance .................................................................................... 17 Emerald Ash Borer ....................................................................................................... 18 Invasive Plants ............................................................................................................. 19 Inventory Design .......................................................................................................... 22 Area Estimation ........................................................................................................... 22 Statistical Reliability ...................................................................................................... 23 Measurement Error ...................................................................................................... 23 Sampling Error ............................................................................................................ 23 Precautions ................................................................................................................. 23 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................. 24 Glossary ......................................................................................................................... 25 Appendix A—Inventory Quality Assurance ................................................................ 39 Appendix B—Species List ............................................................................................. 43 Appendix C—Supporting Tables .................................................................................. 47 iv List of Figures Page Text Figures Figure 1—Mississippi counties and survey units colored by forest area proportion, 2013 ............................................................................................................. 2 Figure 2—Area of timberland by forest-type group and survey year, Mississippi, 1977–2013 ..................................................................................................... 3 Figure 3—Mississippi forest land proportioned by ownership, 2013 ................................ 4 Figure 4—Timberland area by stand origin and survey year, Mississippi, 1977–2013 ....... 6 Figure 5—Planted loblolly-shortleaf pine timberland area by survey year, Mississippi, 1977–2013 ..................................................................................................... 6 Figure 6—Area of forest land by forest-type group and stand-age class, Mississippi, 2013 .............................................................................................................. 7 Figure 7—Number of distinct species recorded by county in Mississippi, 2013 ................ 8 Figure 8—Top 10 most numerous trees, expressed as percentage of total by survey unit: (A) Delta, (B) South, (C) North, (D) Southwest, and (E) Central; Mississippi, 2013 .............................................................................................................. 10 Figure 9—Distribution of plot observations of some economically and/or ecologically important trees in Mississippi, 2013: (A) white oak (Quercus alba), (B) winged elm (Ulmus alata), (C) water oak (Quercus nigra), (D) loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), (E) shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata), (F) slash pine (Pinus elliottii), (G) blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), (H) sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and (I) water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) .............................................................................. 11 Figure 10—Proportion of live-tree volume by ownership on Mississippi forest land, 2013 ............................................................................................................. 12 Figure 11—Per-acre cubic