Southeastern floodplain forests are species-rich ecosystems that respond to dynamic interactions between disturbance and hydrologic regimes. Large-scale natural disturbances such as hurricanes influence forest composition and structure not only by damaging and killing overstory trees, but also by altering environmental conditions on the forest floor. In this dissertation, I examined how the composition and structure of floodplain forest ecosystems are regulated by these disturbances, with a particular emphasis on understanding how large woody vines interact with natural disturbances in...