Managed
Forested Wetlands
Managing wetland landscapes requires a detailed understanding of
biotic and abiotic ecosystem processes and their interaction with
silvicultural practices.
The
sustainability of landscapes containing wetlands depend on the upland
influences and downstream outputs which are governed by complex
interactions among hydrology, biogeochemical processes, vegetation
community dynamics, animal populations, and natural and anthropogenic
disturbance regimes. Factors affecting these landscapes are a growing
demand for both timber and non-timber forest products, urbanization
and other land use changes, and climate change. Such forces impact
forest productivity, water quality, wildlife and fisheries, and
ecosystem structure and function.
There
are three principal areas of research:
- Evaluating ecological processes
that may interact with land management practices; including primary
productivity, biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nutrients,
wildlife biology, and below-ground processes.
- Determining the effects of forest
management practices on forest community dynamics, cosystem productivity
and structure, carbon and nutrient cycles, and wildlife populations
and communities. Specific management practices include harvesting,
site preparation and regeneration, prescribed fire, and thinning,
and short rotation woody crops.
- Syntheses of information on forested wetland resource management
practices and ecological process dynamics through review of available
results and information from long-term studies, and the application
of models.
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