Editing Arkansas (section)

===Flora and fauna===
[[File:White River, Arkansas.jpg|right|thumb|The [[White River (Arkansas)|White River]] in eastern Arkansas]]
Arkansas's mix of warm temperate moist forest and subtropical bottomland is divided into three broad ecoregions: the ''Ozark, Ouachita-Appalachian Forests'', the ''Mississippi Alluvial and Southeast USA Coastal Plains'', and the ''Southeastern USA Plains''.<ref>{{cite map |title= Ecological Regions of North America |scale= 1:10000000 |url= ftp://ftp.epa.gov/wed/ecoregions/cec_na/NA_LEVEL_II.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170525200330/ftp://ftp.epa.gov/wed/ecoregions/cec_na/NA_LEVEL_II.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 2017-05-25 |type= PDF |publisher= United States Environmental Protection Agency |access-date= July 5, 2012 }}</ref> The state is further divided into seven subregions: the Arkansas Valley, [[Boston Mountains]], [[Mississippi Alluvial Plain]], [[Crowley's Ridge|Mississippi Valley Loess Plain]], Ozark Highlands, Ouachita Mountains, and the South Central Plains.<ref>{{cite map |title= Ecoregions of Arkansas |url= ftp://ftp.epa.gov/wed/ecoregions/ar/ar_eco_pg.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170525200416/ftp://ftp.epa.gov/wed/ecoregions/ar/ar_eco_pg.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 2017-05-25 |type= PDF |publisher= United States Environmental Protection Agency |access-date= July 5, 2012 }}</ref> A 2010 [[United States Forest Service]] survey determined {{convert|18720000|acre|ha}} of Arkansas's land is forestland, or 56% of the state's total area.<ref>{{cite web |title= Forest Inventory and Analysis |url= http://srsfia2.fs.fed.us/states/ar/tables/AR_2010-FS_FIADB_22JUNE2011.xls |format= XLS |year= 2010 |publisher= United States Forest Service, Southern Research Station |access-date= July 5, 2012 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121201151653/http://srsfia2.fs.fed.us/states/ar/tables/AR_2010-FS_FIADB_22JUNE2011.xls |archive-date= December 1, 2012 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> Dominant species in Arkansas's forests include ''[[Oak|Quercus]]'' (oak), ''[[Hickory|Carya]]'' (hickory), ''[[Pinus echinata]]'' (shortleaf pine) and ''[[Pinus taeda]]'' (loblolly pine).<ref>{{cite journal |title= Proceedings of the Symposium on Arkansas Forests: A Conference on the Results of the Recent Forest Survey of Arkansas |url=http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/2793 |publisher= [[United States Forest Service]] |date= May 30–31, 1997 |page= 74 |doi=10.2737/SRS-GTR-41 |last1=Guldin |first1=James M. |last2=Technical Compiler |journal=Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-41. Asheville, Nc: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 125 P |volume=041 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Dale |first1= Edward E. Jr. |last2= Ware |first2= Stewart |title= Distribution of Wetland Tree Species in Relation to a Flooding Gradient and Backwater versus Streamside Location in Arkansas, U.S.A |date= April–June 2004 |journal= Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society |volume= 131 |issue= 2 |pages= 177–186 |doi= 10.2307/4126919 |jstor= 4126919 }}</ref>

Arkansas's plant life varies with its climate and elevation. The [[Arkansas Timberlands|pine belt]] stretching from the Arkansas delta to Texas consists of dense oak-hickory-pine growth. Lumbering and paper milling activity is active throughout the region.<ref>Federal Writers' Project 1987, p. 13.</ref> In eastern Arkansas, one can find ''[[Taxodium]] ''(cypress), ''[[Quercus nigra]]'' (water oaks), and hickories with their roots submerged in the Mississippi Valley bayous indicative of the Deep South. [[Saw palmetto]] and [[needle palm]] both range into Arkansas.<ref>Federal Writers' Project 1987, p. 12.</ref> Nearby Crowley's Ridge is the only home of the [[Liriodendron|tulip tree]] in the state, and generally hosts more northeastern plant life such as the [[beech]] tree.<ref>Federal Writers' Project 1987, pp. 12–13.</ref> The northwestern highlands are covered in an oak-hickory mixture, with [[Juniperus ashei|Ozark white cedars]], ''[[Cornus (genus)|cornus]]'' (dogwoods), and ''[[Cercis canadensis]]'' (redbuds) also present. The higher peaks in the Arkansas River Valley play host to scores of ferns, including the ''[[Physematium scopulinum]]'' and ''[[Adiantum]]'' (maidenhair fern) on Mount Magazine.<ref>Federal Writers' Project 1987, pp. 13–14.</ref> The white-tailed deer is the official state mammal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.animalsaroundtheglobe.com/animals-of-arkansas/ |title=Animals of Arkansas |date=May 2, 2022 |publisher=animalsaroundtheglobe.com |access-date=July 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715130017/https://www.animalsaroundtheglobe.com/animals-of-arkansas/ |archive-date=July 15, 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref>