SRS Strategic Framework - Wetlands

Ecology and Management of Forested Wetlands, Bottomland Hardwoods, and Riparian Zone

This Cross-Cutting Theme (CCT) will focus on providing information necessary for restoring and managing forested wetlands, bottomlands, and riparian zones to obtain desired products and values while sustaining ecosystem functions that ensure environmental quality. Approximately half of the wetland resource in the United States occurs in the South, and the majority of those wetlands are forested. In addition to wetlands, nonhydric bottomlands and riparian areas occur in a hydrogeomorphic setting similar to wetlands. Together these lands provide critical benefits that are fundamental to ecosystem health at multiple scales, including productivity, habitat, freshwater resources, and biodiversity. The forested wetland resource is also an integral component of commercial forest lands, where high rates of forest wood and fiber productivity are possible without compromising environmental values. The primary goals of this CCT are: 1) develop the knowledge base needed to understand the ecosystem structure and functions; and, 2) provide information needed to manage and restore forested wetlands, bottomlands, and riparian areas to provide desired products and values while sustaining ecosystem functions.

Kinds of Research

Scientists in the fields of hydrology, soils, forestry, engineering, economics, biology, ecophysiology, genetics, biogeochemistry, fisheries, and recreation will participate in this CCT. Major questions to be addressed include: 1) which ecosystem process and functions are most important for maintaining the integrity and productivity of forested wetlands, bottomland hardwoods, and riparian areas? 2) what modeling approaches should be used to integrate ecological process and functions with management options to provide tools that can be used to analyze and assess ecosystem response to manipulation and environmental change? and, 3) how can the commodity and noncommodity potential of wetlands be realized while sustaining ecological integrity?

Proposed Outcomes

1. A model for assessing functions and associated management interactions of bottomland hardwood forests.
2. Technologies and assessment methodologies for restoring forested wetlands, riparian zones, and associated aquatic ecosystems.
3. Techniques for regenerating forested bottomland oak stands, including seed handling, seedling propagation and handling, and field establishment.
4. Improved prescriptions to manage conifer and hardwood productivity on wet soils and lands adjoining wetlands and aquatic habitats.
5. Recommendations on buffer strip and riparian zone management that are based on understanding the functional role of wetlands as transitional ecosystems in the landscape.
6. Establishment of reference sites for important forested wetland types that are based on long-term research.
7. Development of a valuation system for wetland ecosystems to incorporate costs and benefits associated with commodity and noncommodity uses into decision models.
8. Landscape models for considering alternative arrangements of land use and the resulting outcomes in terms of goods and services.

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