Native plant
The terraces of the Western Lowlands Pleistocene Valley Trains are largely composed of Pleistocene glacial outwash that was transported to Arkansas by the Mississippi River and deposited by braided streams. Physiography is widely muted by windblown silt deposits (loess), sand sheets, or sand dunes; loess and sand sheets are more widespread than in the Northern Pleistocene Valley Trains (73b) and St. Francis Lowlands (73c). Many interdunal depressions called “sandponds” occur and are either in contact with the water table or have a perched aquifer. Elevations are higher than adjacent parts of the Northern Holocene Meander Belts (73a) and Western Lowlands Holocene Meander Belts (73f); consequently, uplands are rarely if ever flooded. Native plant communities are different from more frequently inundated ecoregions; for example, post oak and loblolly pine are native to Ecoregion 73g but are absent from lower, overflow areas. Sandpond forest communities are generally dominated by overcup oak, water hickory, willow oak, and pin oak; understory in a few sandponds may include pondberry (Lindera melissifolia), federally listed as endangered. Today, cropland is extensive and the main crops are soybeans and cotton. Commercial crawfish, baitfish, and catfish farms are common. The Western Lowlands Pleistocene Valley Trains (73g) ecoregion is a wintering ground for water fowl. Duck hunting is widespread. The ecoregion covers between Arkansas and Missouri, with 86% in Arkansas.