Batture - Frequently Flooded Wet Backswamp Flat Forest

Submodel

Description

This state consists of forest canopy openings that are created by catastrophic disturbances, allowing sunlight to reach understory strata and ground surfaces. Depending on local conditions and disturbance regime and intensity, a continuum or range of successional stages and community structure (physiognomy) is represented. Provisionally, this state includes seral stages ranging from recent disturbances that consist mainly of sparse herbaceous cover over mostly bare soil to the regeneration of woody species among a dense herbaceous cover (early stand initiation stage) to the initial stem exclusion stage where woody growth overtops and shades out the herbaceous stratum. In future ecological site development efforts, multiple community phases that describe the composition and progression from one stage to the next may be warranted for specifying management strategies and actions.

The nature of the batture area makes it difficult to get slower growing species tall enough to withstand the deeper flood waters during regeneration. They can be planted and survive only to be lost in the next flood event. It is difficult to get some species back in this area once they are gone from an area.

Submodel