Long, fairly narrow stands (about 2 to 25 acres)
Slightly elevated floodplains of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, and their larger tributaries (may be absent where cliffs and steep bluffs bound the river)
Sandy loams, with moderately high to high levels of calcium
Alluvium (sediments deposited by the river)
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In Harpers Ferry, the Rich Floodplain Forest stretches beside rivers on wider floodplains, in stands ranging in size from a couple of acres to a couple of dozen acres. The land this natural community occupies may be set back slightly from the river and is elevated just enough to experience flooding only every several years. The average interval between floods is nearly 2 to 14 years.1
The physical setting of the Rich Floodplain Forest contributes to its lushness and plant diversity. Floods, infrequent though they may be, deposit sediments from upstream, bringing in new minerals and organic matter (including mollusk shells) containing nutrients such as calcium that encourage plant growth. Underlying bedrock does not have as strong an influence on these floodplain soils because of the regular influx of new materials carried in by floods.
