Bottomland forest
File:Big Oak Tree State Park Boardwalk.JPG, Missouri]]
Bottomland forest is woodland on lowland alluvial floodplains or lower terraces of rivers and streams.{{Cite web |title=Bottomland Forests |url=https://www.bentonswcd.org/bottomland-forests |access-date=2024-04-14 |website=Benton Soil And Water Conservation District |language=en}} Bottomland forest is very rare in Europe.{{cite book |last1=Kirwan |first1=Guy |title=The Birds of Turkey |last2=Demirci |first2=Barbaros |last3=Welch |first3=Hilary |last4=Boyla |first4=Kerem |last5=Özen |first5=Metehan |last6=Castell |first6=Peter |last7=Marlow |first7=Tim |publisher=Helm |year=2008 |isbn=9781408104750 |pages=35 |quote=Bottomland forest is an extremely rare habitat throughout Europe}} The bottomland hardwood forest is a type of deciduous and evergreen hardwood forest found in broad lowland floodplains along large rivers and lakes in the United States{{cite web|url=http://www.wlf.state.la.us/pdfs/experience/Bottomland%20Hardwood%20Forest.pdf |title=Bottomland Hardwood Forest |date=December 2005 |publisher=Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries |accessdate=2009-04-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070306105947/http://www.wlf.state.la.us/pdfs/experience/Bottomland%20Hardwood%20Forest.pdf |archivedate=March 6, 2007 }} and elsewhere.{{Cite web |title=Human Interventions on Wetlands and their Long Term Impacts on Human Well-being a study of Kizilirmak Delta case, Samsun, Turkey |url=https://open.metu.edu.tr/bitstream/handle/11511/19394/index.pdf}} They are occasionally flooded, which builds up the alluvial soils required for the gum, oak and bald cypress trees that typically grow in this type of biome.{{cite web|url=http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/Ecosystems/Bottomland_Hardwoods/bottomland_hardwoods.html|title=Bottomland Hardwoods|publisher=School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida|accessdate=2009-04-25|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527080612/http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/Ecosystems/Bottomland_Hardwoods/bottomland_hardwoods.html|archivedate=2009-05-27}} The trees often develop unique characteristics to allow submergence, including cypress knees and fluted trunks, but can not survive continuous flooding.{{cite web|url=https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/bottomland-hardwoods|title=Wetlands: Bottomland Hardwoods|publisher=Environmental Protection Agency|accessdate=2018-04-26}}
Typical examples of this forest type are found throughout the Gulf Coast states, and along the Mississippi River in the United States. It is estimated there were {{convert|24000000|acre|km2}} in the region before foresting and farming reduced it to approximately {{convert|4000000|acre|km2}} today.{{cite web|url=https://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/arkansas/ivorybill/big-woods-of-arkansas.xml|title=The Big Woods of Arkansas: An Imperiled National Treasure|publisher=The Nature Conservancy|accessdate=2018-04-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427044519/https://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/arkansas/ivorybill/big-woods-of-arkansas.xml|archive-date=2018-04-27|url-status=dead}}Yin, Yao, et al. “Bottomland Hardwood Forests along the Upper Mississippi River.” Natural Areas Journal, vol. 17, no. 2, 1997, pp. 164–73. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/43911662 JSTOR website] Retrieved 6 Jan. 2023.
On the Black Sea coast of Turkey there is Lake Saka Nature Reserve in İğneada Floodplain Forests National Park, Sarıkum Nature Reserve in Sinop, and {{Interlanguage link|Hacıosman Wood Nature reserve|tr|Hacıosman Ormanı}} in Samsun.{{cite book |last1=Kirwan |first1=Guy |title=The Birds of Turkey |last2=Demirci |first2=Barbaros |last3=Welch |first3=Hilary |last4=Boyla |first4=Kerem |last5=Özen |first5=Metehan |last6=Castell |first6=Peter |last7=Marlow |first7=Tim |publisher=Helm |year=2008 |isbn=9781408104750 |pages=35 }}