The Ozark Highlands is a Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in four U.S. states.

Upland potential natural vegetation is primarily oak–hickory and also oak–hickory–pine forests; savannas and tallgrass prairies also occurred and were maintained by fire.

Application of poultry litter to agricultural fields is a non-point source that can impair water quality.

[1] The Dissected Springfield Plateau–Elk River Hills are underlain by cherty limestone of the Mississippian Boone Formation and contain many karst features.

Shortleaf pine grows on the thin, cherty soils of steep slopes, and is more common than in Ecoregion 39a, 39c, and 39d.

Logging, livestock farming, woodland grazing, recreation, quarrying, and housing are primary land uses.

[1] The forested White River Hills ecoregion is a highly dissected portion of the Salem Plateau that is underlain by cherty Ordovician dolomite and limestone.

Ecoregion 39d is largely underlain by cherty Ordovician dolomite and limestone; it is lithologically distinct from another slightly dissected part of the Ozarks, the Springfield Plateau.

Today, pastureland, hayland, and housing are common, but remnant forests and savannas occur in steeper areas.

[1] The Osage/Gasconade Hills ecoregion is more densely forested and dissected than the lower relief Central Plateau to the south.

Steep slopes and narrow ridges of carbonate and sandstone underlie soils which are rocky and thin.

The northeastern edges of this region are transitional and blend into the Interior River Valleys and Hills ecoregion.

[1] The St. Francois Knobs and Basins ecoregion contains the oldest geologic formations in the state and has a different landscape than surrounding regions.

Other mineral resources include granite and, to a limited extent, silver, copper, and cobalt, by-products of lead mining.

Soils can be rocky and thin on steep slopes, with areas of claypan or loess similar to the Black River Hills Border to the southwest.

Compared to the Central Plateau, however, the loess mantle in this region tends to be deeper and more expansive on the uplands.

Land cover is predominantly forest and woodland with a scattering of pastureland and cropland in the cleared valley bottoms.

Topography is mostly smooth to gently sloping plains, and soils, derived from loess and cherty limestone, tend to support more cropland than other Ozark regions.

Streambeds are generally rocky and tend to be more Ozarkian in structure than those found in the Wooded Osage Plains to the west.