Long-term Experimental Sites - Center for Forested Wetlnads Research

Established in 1937, the Santee Experimental Forest has provided the foundation for research on forest hydrology, prescribed fire, nutrient cycling, pine silviculture. It contains four gauged watersheds, numerous long-term studies and data files, and an infrastructure for field and laboratory research.

The Coosawhatchie Bottomland Hardwood Ecosystem Study Site was established in 1994 in partnership with MeadWestvaco to address forest sustainability questions in bottomland hardwood forests. The site is one of four that were studied intensively for a six year period to quantify ecosystem functions across a range of bottomland conditions. The Center maintains monitoring activities on the site in collaboration with MeadWestvaco. The site includes mature reference stands, and stands representing two harvesting systems, small clear-cut and patch-deferment cuts.

The Goza Experimental Forest Tract is owned by International Paper and located in Sumter County , South Carolina . The Goza Tract includes a 200-ha watershed with agriculture, SRWC plantations, and natural pine/hardwood stands. Within the watershed, six gauged catchments have been instrumented since 1997. Four of the catchments were planted with sycamore and two were planted with sweetgum. Two of the sycamore catchments were fitted with a control drainage structure to regulate outflow from the site. Each catchments have been managed using a conventional short rotation woody crop plantation prescription. Each catchment has a complete record of vegetation development, soil properties and hydrologic setting, which coincides with the establishment of the plantations in 1997 and periodic measurements through 2002. The Goza Tract is within the upper coastal plain, and the surrounding area is typical of this region and includes urban/residential, agriculture, tree plantations, and natural mixed pine/hardwood forest stands.

The Center maintains several long-term study sites at the Savannah River Site in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service Savannnah River, the DOE-Savannah River, the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and numerous collaborators. The sites include wildlife gaps and corridors, coarse woody debris, bottomland hardwood restoration, Carolina bay restoration, short rotation woody crops, hydrology, and avifauna inventories.

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