Restoration of Bottomland Hardwoods in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley
John A. Stanturf (Presenter), Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service
Emile S. Gardiner, Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research
Throughout the boreal and temperate zones, forest restoration efforts attempt to counteract negative effects of conversion to other land use (afforestation and remediation) and disturbance and stress on existing forests (rehabilitation). Appropriate silvicultural practices can be designed for any forest restoration objective. Most common objectives include timber, wildlife habitat for game species, or aesthetics. Increasingly other objectives are considered, including carbon sequestration, biological diversity, non-game mammals and birds, endangered animals and plants, protection of water quality and aquatic resources, and recreation. Plantation forestry remains the most effective approach to restoration of forest cover to large areas, and recent trends toward more complex plantations are explored in the context of afforestation in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Benefits of converting agricultural land to forests include financial, recreational, and environmental outcomes. The level of outcome obtained, and the rapidity of realizing benefits, is determined by the intensity of restoration efforts. A related paper is found at http://www.srs.fs.fed.us/pubs/rpc/2000-10/rpc_00oct_02.pdf
Workshop V: Forested
Online Paper as PDF, 52 KB
Wetlands
Sustaining
Southern
Forests
20-DEC-2000
webmaster:
John M. Pye
a conference sponsored by the Southern Forest Resource Assessment