Riverine bottomland
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Flourishing amid river meanders, floodplain forests serve as reservoirs
during times of high water. Instead of rushing downstream, floodwater
pools behind natural levees and in sloughs and oxbows, and is
then slowly released. Thick woody vegetation traps sediment and
slows the rivers speed. Silver maple and cottonwood dominate
northern floodplains; along the sluggish southern rivers tupelo
and bald cypress stand out.
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