Engineers have manipulated the Lower Mississippi River for 200 years. They removed large “snags” of dead trees, branches and other “woody debris” that clogged navigation channels. They lined the banks, first with large mats made from willow trees, then with mats made from concrete, to keep them from eroding. They also shortened and straightened the […]
Articles
The batture: What is it and why is it important?
What is the Lower Mississippi River “batture?” In the simplest terms, it refers to the lands and waters remaining between federal levees or bluffs along the eastern and western banks of the river. It is what remains of the river’s active floodplain. The batture covers approximately 2 million acres between Cairo, Illinois, and Baton Rouge, […]
Black Carp: New threat to native mussels and snails
Black Carp, Mylopharyngodon piceus, are raising new concerns about non-native, invasive carp species in the Lower Mississippi River. Unlike the four other non-native carp species found in the lower river, Black Carp, which can grow to 100 or more pounds, eat mussels and snails. They have pharyngeal teeth they use to crush mollusks and eat […]
Pallid Sturgeon: Living Dinosaur at Home in Lower Mississippi
Ancestors of the endangered Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) coexisted with dinosaurs millions of years ago. Fossil sturgeon specimens from North America are believed to be nearly 80 million years old. Despite this ancient lineage, biologists are just now unlocking some of the mysteries of this ancient species on the Lower Mississippi River. Through increased monitoring […]
River Shrimp: Long-Armed, Long-Distance Traveler
Jan Jeffrey HooverUS Army Engineer Research and Development CenterVicksburg, MS Shrimp are typically thought of as marine animals, characteristic of Gulf waters, but there are also species inhabiting the fresh waters of the Mississippi River. The largest of these (60-100 mm) is the Ohio River shrimp, or simply “river shrimp” (Macrobrachium ohione). Like its saltwater relatives, […]
Endangered Fat Pocketbook Mussel Found Along the Lower Mississippi River
The endangered Fat Pocketbook mussel is one of three priority species listed in a Strategic Habitat Conservation Plan for the Lower Mississippi River. Although it was listed as federally endangered in 1976, and at that time known only from the St. Francis River system in Arkansas, it was first found in the main channel of the lower […]