The Center
for Forested Wetlands Research (SRS-4353) is an interdisciplinary
unit whose program is designed to:
"To develop,
quantify, and synthesize ecological information needed to sustainably
manage and restore the structure, function, and productivity of wetland-dominated
forested landscapes."
The Center's mission is conducted under the basic tenets of forest
sustainability, and is intended to provide the data and tools necessary
for managing forested wetland landscapes to sustain ecosystem functions,
goods, and services for future generations. The relevance of the research
is regional, national, and international, although it is derived primarily
from work in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the southeastern United
States.
The Center's program
of work is comprised within four Research Problems:
- Managing wetland landscapes requires
a detailed understanding of biotic and abiotic ecosystem processes
and their interaction with silvicultural practices.
- Restoration of wetland and riparian ecosystems
within wetland landscapes requires new or improved technologies,
reference systems models, and reliable indicators of restoration
effectiveness and ecosystem health.
- Managing forested wetland landscapes
for water quality improvement, quantity control, and productivity
requires a detailed understanding of functional linkages between
ecohydrological processes and management practices.
- Landscape level analyses that incorporate
new approaches in modeling, scaling, and uncertainty analyses
are required to incorporate science, land use, policy options,
and regulations into assessments of landscape function and productivity,
and to design landscapes to accomplish specific functions and
deliver specific outputs.
These Problem Areas are described in the Center's Research Work
Unit Description, which is it's formal charter within the Forest
Service. Individual studies are developed to address specific aspects
of each Problem. The studies are implemented collaboratively,
in both field and laboratory settings. The Center maintains several
long-term experimental sites,
and its studies are supported by analytical laboratories and experimental
facilities.
For more information about the Center, please contact:
Ms. Pekepnie
Lagasca
USDA Forest Service
Southern Research Station
Center for Forested Wetlands Research
2730 Savannah Highway
Charleston, SC 29414
phone: (843) 769-7000
fax: (843) 766-8734
e-mail: klagasca@fs.fed.us
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