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 agricultural land, timber harvesting, and river modifications for flood prevention and for navigation were the primary factors that caused the changes. Navigation structures and flood-prevention levees have altered the fluvial geomorphic dynamics of the river and floodplain system. Restoration and maintenance of the diversity, productivity, and natural regeneration dynamics of the bottomland hardwood forests under the modified river environment represent a major management challenge.