Lowland and riparian hardwoods thrive across a variety of soil moisture tolerances and is expected to find micro-habitats and refugia in order to persist in some form on the landscape, increasing its adaptive capacity.

This diverse forest community occurs over a wide range of habitats and is widespread and common throughout the interior portion of the Mid-Atlantic region. In general, areas that are north-facing, at higher elevations, or are farther north in the region are expected to undergo less change compared to forests in warmer, drier, or more southerly locations, particularly where past land use, land development, fragmentation, invasive species, or other factors have already impaired the system.