BOTTOMLAND HARDWOOD FORESTS ALONG THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Bottomland hardwood forests along the United States' Upper Mississippi River have been drastically reduced in acreage and repeatedly logged during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Conversion to agricultu ral land, timber harvesting, and river modifications for flood prevent ion and for navigation were the primary factors that caused the change s. Navigation structures and flood-prevention levees have altered the fluvial geomorphic dynamics of the river and floodplain system. Restor ation and maintenance of the diversity, productivity, and natural rege neration dynamics of the bottomland hardwood forests under the modifie d river environment represent a major management challenge.