What Is Bottomland Hardwoods

Bottomland hardwood forests support a great variety of tree and shrub species.

What is bottomland hardwoods.

Years later huffman and forsythe 1981 used the term to describe floodplain forests throughout the eastern and central. The bottomland hardwood forest is a type of deciduous and evergreen hardwood forest found in us broad lowland floodplains along large rivers and lakes. The trees often develop unique characteristics to allow submergence including cypress. Bottomland hardwood forests are a prominent ecosystem in the southeast.

Regular flooding is an integral part of a river s cycle so. In addition these wetlands improve water quality by filtering and flushing nutrients processing organic wastes and reducing sediment before it reaches open water. They are occasionally flooded which builds up the alluvial soils required for the gum oak and bald cypress trees that typically grow in this type of biome. Bottomland hardwood forests can reduce the risk and severity of flooding to downstream communities by providing areas to store floodwater.

They are characterized by infrequent low intensity fire. The term bottomland hardwoods was first used to describe forests of the southeastern us that occurred on river floodplains. This ecosystem supports a unique forest community of bald cypress water tupelo black gum and numerous species of oak. Bottomland hardwood forests are one of many important riparian ecosystems in the united states.

Bottomland hardwoods serve a critical role in the watershed by reducing the risk and severity of flooding to downstream communities by providing areas to store floodwater. Bottomland hardwoods may be underwater part of the year and completely dry during droughts. Typical tree species growing in these forests range from cottonwoods and sweetgums to cherrybark oaks water oaks and hickories.