Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Mississippi
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

The Mississippi Alluvial Valley contains a diverse mosaic of aquatic habitats formed through the meandering of multiple rivers. The valley includes hundreds of perennial lakes formed via channel cut-offs, known as oxbow lakes. While environmental data are sometimes available on some of these lakes, the data are scattered throughout multiple databases, and therefore existing broad-scale characterizations of this resource are inadequate. The goal of this project is to create an inventory of the lakes in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley containing biophysical data relevant to the management of biological resources. This project is a collaboration of USGS, USACE, and Mississippi State University.