Spatially explicit modelling of floodplain forest succession: interactions among flood inundation, forest successional processes, and other disturbances in the Upper Mississippi River floodplain, USA

•We introduce a flood disturbance module to the LANDIS-II forest succession modelling framework to enable investigations into how inundation interacts with other disturbances and successional processes to alter floodplain forest cover and community dynamics.•In a case study in the Upper Mississippi River floodplain, USA, we illustrate how predictions of total forest cover and the abundance of different forest community types were responsive to patterns of inundation and outbreaks of the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis).•Our results suggest that a deeper understanding of floodplain forest dynamics can be gained through integrative models that combine forest successional processes and other disturbances, with the impacts of inundation.•This modelling framework should allow for future studies that examine how alternative hydrologic scenarios and other disturbances interact to influence floodplain forests in space and time.