Bottomland Hardwood Forest Concept

These forests are subject to occasional scouring action of fast moving floodwaters.

Bottomland hardwood forest concept.

A special kind of bottomland forest is riverfront bottomland forest also called riparian forest or just riverfront forest. Bottomland hardwood forests blh are found in temperate humid regions of the southeastern us primarily on alluvial floodplains adjacent to rivers. Historic blhs were a product of the natural hydrologic and geomorphic processes associated with their adjacent rivers. The greatest concentration of blh historically occurred within the mississippi alluvial valley mav but the ecotype also dominates floodplains throughout the gulf and atlantic coastal plains wharton et al.

These unique forests contain many plant species structurally complex vegetation a great deal of cover and a deep litter layer. Typical tree species growing in these forests range from cottonwoods and sweetgums to cherrybark oaks water oaks and hickories. In the southeastern united states floodplain forests are referred to as bottomland hardwoods blh. To provide the scientific basis to manage southern bottomland hardwood and wetland forests and associated stream ecosystems for a sustained yield of forest products and other desired values.

Bottomland hardwood forests are river swamps. Bottomland hardwood forests support a great variety of tree and shrub species. These ecosystems are commonly found wherever streams or rivers at least occasionally cause flooding beyond their channel confines. Bottomland hardwood forests are seasonally flooded forests located along waterways.

They are found along rivers and streams of the southeast and south central united states generally in broad floodplains. It occurs in floodplains along major rivers and streams notably along the missouri and mississippi rivers. A bottomland hardwood forest is basically a swamp or deciduous forested wetland. Bottomland hardwood forests can reduce the risk and severity of flooding to downstream communities by providing areas to store floodwater.

These lowland forests grow along river bottoms and tend to flood during the rainy season. Bottomland hardwood forests are floodplain forests that are periodically inundated or saturated during the growing season. Numerous attempts at bottomland hardwood restoration throughout eastern texas have been largely unsuccessful. These forests are critically important to biodiversity wildlife carbon storage recreation and clean water in the south.