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Geographical Review April 1996, 86(2), pp. 216-232. Stream Channelization and Changing Vegetation Patterns in the U.S. Coastal Plain David Shankman A bald cypress-water tupelo swamp along the Wolf River in western Tennessee, 1994. (Photograph by Larry J. Smith) ABSTRACT: Plant-community patterns in the alluvial wetlands of the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain are highly complex, depending on the hydroperiod, the height of the water table, the age of the surface age, and a variety of natural and human-induced disturbances. The range of physical conditions that many terrestrial species on lower bottomland sites require to maintain themselves and regenerate is narrow. Stream channelization causes a dramatic alteration of the magnitude and duration of flooding and sedimentation, and it precludes channel migration. These changes in hydrogeomorphic processes disrupt critical river­floodplain interactions, which in many cases alter the conditions of bottomland habitats and the composition of plant communities. The modified hydrology along some stream segments, in particular lower peak discharges in the upper sections of watersheds caused by channelization, has promoted deforestation and land-use conversion to agriculture. Key Words: channelization, floodplain, U.S. Coastal Plain, wetlands. DR. SHANKMAN is an associate professor of geography at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487­0322. To contact the author: Professor David Shankman University of Alabama Department Of Geography 202 Farrah Hall Box 870322 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0322 Phone: 205 348-1534, 205 348-2278 fax Email David Shankman -- dshankman@ua1vm.ua.edu