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Old-Growth and Mature Remnant Floodplain Forests of the Southeastern United States

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Ecology and Recovery of Eastern Old-Growth Forests

Abstract

Bottomland hardwood ecosystems (BLH) occupy the floodplains of low-gradient streams and rivers in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Provinces of the southeastern United States (figure 2-1; King et al. 2012). Although they make up a relatively small portion of the landscape compared to their upland counterparts, healthy BLH forests, particularly ones with seasonal flooding and flow, have high productivity (Conner and Day 1976; Megonigal et al. 1997). They provide necessary habitat for wildlife and numerous other species and are thus critical for supporting biodiversity in the region (Sharitz and Mitsch 1993; Conner and Sharitz 2005). These forests are also responsible for the provisioning of many ecosystem goods and services, including flood control, maintenance of water quality, recreation, and nursery habitat for commercial fisheries, to name a few (King et al. 2009).

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Authors
  1. Loretta L. Battaglia
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  2. William H. Conner
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern Maine, Portland, OR, USA

    Andrew M. Barton

  2. The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

    William S. Keeton

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© 2018 Andrew M. Barton and William S. Keeton

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Battaglia, L.L., Conner, W.H. (2018). Old-Growth and Mature Remnant Floodplain Forests of the Southeastern United States. In: Barton, A.M., Keeton, W.S. (eds) Ecology and Recovery of Eastern Old-Growth Forests. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-891-6_2

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