Bottomland Hardwood Forest Facts

These forests are found throughout louisiana in all parishes but are the predominant natural community type of the mississippi river alluvial plain.

Bottomland hardwood forest facts.

These ecosystems are commonly found wherever streams or rivers at least occasionally cause flooding beyond their channel confines. Hardwood products include lumber veneer and firewood. Bottomland hardwood forests are floodplain forests that are periodically inundated or saturated during the growing season. Canopy trees are usually sycamore pin oak bur oak silver maple cottonwood and black walnut.

Bottomland hardwood forests are river swamps. Bottomland hardwoods are one of the lowest in elevation and the wettest types of hardwood forests. Like all habitat systems bottomland forests result from a variety of factors such as soil type hydrology water flow patterns and climate. They are found along rivers and streams of the southeast and south central united states generally in broad floodplains.

Bottomland hardwood forests typically have distinct ecological zones at different elevations and flood frequencies. Bottomland hardwood species can regenerate from their light wind disseminated seeds. These zones are the result of an active river cutting its banks and forming new land putnam 1960. 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.

These forests are critically important to biodiversity wildlife carbon storage recreation and clean water in the south. Bottomland forests represent a transition between drier upland hardwood forest and very wet river floodplain and wetland forests. These unique forests contain many plant species structurally complex vegetation a great deal of cover and a deep litter layer. Bottomland hardwood forests are forested alluvial wetlands occupying broad floodplain areas that flank large river systems.

They are generally found along the edges of lakes and rivers and in sinkholes. The soil which erodes from the bank is often deposited on the inside bend downstream on what is referred to as a point bar. Ash cottonwood and silver maple are the most commercially desirable species. The bottomland hardwood forest is a type of deciduous and evergreen hardwood forest found in us broad lowland floodplains along large rivers and lakes.

Bottomland hardwood forests bhf are forested alluvial wetlands occupying broad floodplain areas that flank large river systems 2005 louisiana conservation of habitats and species assessment bhf are found in low lying areas often near rivers and streams which occasionally flood. Bottomland hardwood forests are seasonally flooded forests located along waterways.