Silviculture and Forested Wetlands of the Southeast United States: an Introduction to the Special Feature

Abstract

The papers in this Special Feature are the result of an unprecedented collaboration between the wetland and forestry communities, with the goal of fostering open dialogue regarding the interaction between forestry operations and forested wetlands in the Coastal Plain of the southeast U.S. Many misunderstandings exist between these two communities. These misunderstanding are partially caused by a lack of dialogue and the use of varying definitions for commonly-used terms, such as “loss” and “forested,” but are magnified by an incomplete understanding of fundamental biophysical processes that occur within intensively managed forests, especially at broader spatial and temporal scales. Our collaborative effort to engage representatives from the forestry industry, state forestry organizations, wetland scientists, and wetland regulators seeks to overcome these misunderstandings through a wide array of information sharing efforts. These have included one-on-one conversations, group meetings, field trips, and scientific symposia, including a session that was held at the 2016 Society of Wetland Scientists Meeting in Corpus Christi, Texas. Following the symposium, the presenters recognized the need to publish their presented papers as one product to facilitate additional dialog. This Special Feature in Wetlands is the realization of that vision.