Essay - Riparian Buffer Management Current Knowledge and Standards Most Bodies of...

Riparian buffer management

***** Knowledge and Standards

***** bodies of water, both running and standing, have a flood plain known as a rip*****rian area. Whether the waterway is a large river or a small, intermittent creek, ***** water directly affects and is affected by th***** adjacent land. The riparian ***** serves as a transition between aquatic and land habitats. It is the link between land and *****. When this area is planted in such a way to protect ***** waterway from negative impacts ***** the adjacent l***** use, it becomes a buffer, specifically, a rip*****rian *****. Recently, we have become aware of several imp*****tant functions ***** the riparian are*****. They are vital to the conservation of valuable farmlands and essential to ***** removal of harmful chemicals from our water supply.

Since the turn ***** ***** century, during the beginning of ***** industrial area, lands in the riparian area have been cleared for many reasons and put into other *****s, such as pasture, row crops, and storm sewer lines. As our population grew, pressure ***** home sites has increased and now there are a number of housing developments built in low-lying, flood prone *****s. As a result, stream channels have been artificially straightened and deepened to control ***** water runoff. The *****ing pollutants in runoff ***** flushed into near***** streams and rivers, by passing natural systems of cleaning. The *****s are exposed to much more sunlight as a result of the removal of shade trees, which increases water temperatures, ***** reduces the ***** ***** ***** organisms, including fish. (Tjaden, 1998). It is ***** ***** maintain and preserve riparian buffer areas in a susta*****able manner. This area has brought ***** attention recently, as a ***** of public awareness and research projects. New technologies and k*****ledge make proper riparian buffer management easier than ever before.

By incorporating vegetative riparian buffers along as much ***** the length of a waterc*****se as is possible, ***** is intercepted, slowed, and allowed to percolate into ***** ground, recharging our groundwater. Multiple benefits with minimal expense occur when we allow ***** systems ***** as ***** buffers to function properly.

Different plant materials have different benefits in a riparian buffer area. The follow*****g table summarizes the various benefits ***** grasses, trees ***** shrubs.

Table 1.

Relative effectiveness of ***** vegetation types for specific benefits

***** Benefit

***** Type

*****

Shrub

*****

Stabilize bank erosion

Low/Medium

Medium/High

Filter sediment

Low/Medium

Filter nutrients, pesticides, microbes: sediment bound

Low/Medium

***** nutrients, pesticides, microbes: soluble

Aquatic habitat

Wildlife *****: range/*****

***** habitat: forest wildlife

Economic products

Low/Medium

Visual diversity

Flood **********

S*****ce: Adapted from Agroforestry Notes. AF Note-4, Jan *****997. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest

Using vegetation to stabilize and control or minimize erosion problems ***** stream *****s and their immediate slope ***** is less expensive ***** repairing erosion-caused damage. Techniques to ***** ***** banks work ***** either reducing the force of the flowing water, by increasing the resistance of the bank to erosion forces, or by a combination of ***** two (Tjaden,