Analysis of Missouri Floodplain Soils Along the Mississippi River and an Assessment of Ecosystem Services

Abstract

Floodplain ecosystems have been substantially altered because of land management decisions. Land management decisions have been made primarily for economic development, increased food demand, and reducing flood risks. Recently, increased attention has been devoted to restoring selected floodplain ecosystem services that have important benefits for habitat and wildlife, water purification, forest restoration, and carbon sequestration. Considering the Mississippi River floodplain as a portion of the state of Missouri, we summarize the key soil and soil features and elaborate on ecosystem site descriptions to support assessment of land management’s influence on ecosystem services. Given the significant government investment in detailed soil mapping and development of the ecosystem site descriptions, the fusion of these two advancements is critical for evaluating ecosystem service restoration.