A riparian buffer, also called a stream buffer, is a vegetated area, usually forested, kept alongside a stream to shade and partially protect it from the impact of the land use next to it. It plays a role in raising water quality in the streams, rivers and lakes it borders, and has become an increasingly common conservation practice as agricultural expansion has degraded many aquatic ecosystems, used specifically to increase water quality and reduce pollution reaching the water.
Facts
Practice ClassA vegetated buffer strip near a stream, usually forested, maintained as a common conservation practice to protect water quality 1 Practice Class
Practice Class (category)Conservation / Sustainable Practice 1 Connections
Associated With
Source Riparian buffer - Wikipedia
Source Riparian buffer - Wikipedia
Source Riparian buffer - Wikipedia
In Discipline
Sources
1. Riparian buffer - Wikipedia
Lead section, paragraph 1
vegetated area (a "buffer strip") near a stream, usually forested, which helps shade and partially protect the stream from the impact of adjacent land uses
Functions section, benefits passage
Riparian buffers act to intercept sediment, nutrients, pesticides, and other materials in surface runoff and reduce nutrients and other pollutants in shallow subsurface water flow.
Design section, three zones passage
It is generally recommended that native species be chosen to plant in these three zones, with the general width of the buffer being 50 feet (15 m) on each side of the stream.
Conservation incentives section, Conservation Reserve Program passage
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a farming assistance program in the United States, provides many incentives to landowners to encourage them to install riparian buffers around water systems that have a high chance of non-point water pollution and are highly erodible.
Water quality benefits section, pesticides passage
Riparian buffers keep chemicals, like pesticides, that can be harmful to aquatic life out of the water.
Conservation incentives section, compensation passage
These incentives are offered to agriculturists to compensate them for their economic loss of taking this land out of production.
Benefits section, stream bank stabilization passage
They can also be key in reducing erosion by providing stream bank stabilization.
Habitat benefits section, shade passage
The large trees in the first zone of the riparian buffer provide shade and therefore cooling for the water.
Effectiveness section, nitrogen and phosphorus removal passage
It found that these buffers removed at least 60% of the nitrogen in the runoff, and at least 65% of the phosphorus from the fertilizer application.
Habitat benefits section, carbon passage
Carbon is added as an energy source for biota in the stream.
Design section, AgBufferBuilder filter strip design tool passage
The US National Agroforestry Center has developed a filter strip design tool called AgBufferBuilder, which is a GIS-based computer program for designing vegetative filter strips around agricultural fields.
Design section, buffer width passage
It is generally recommended that native species be chosen to plant in these three zones, with the general width of the buffer being 50 feet (15 m) on each side of the stream.
Benefits section, plantation systems and wind erosion passage
Large scale results have demonstrated that the expansion of riparian buffers through the deployment of plantations systems can effectively reduce nitrogen emissions to water and soil loss by wind erosion.
Design section, opening sentence
A riparian buffer is usually split into three different zones, each having its own specific purpose for filtering runoff and interacting with the adjacent aquatic system.
Water quality benefits section, eutrophication passage
They counteract eutrophication in downstream lakes and ponds which can be detrimental to aquatic habitats because of large fish kills that occur upon large-scale eutrophication.
Habitat benefits section, biodiversity passage
By adding this vegetated area of land near a water source, it increases biodiversity by allowing species an area to re-establish after being displaced due to non-conservation land use.
Associated With: Soil Erosion, Benefits section, opening passage
They can also be key in reducing erosion by providing stream bank stabilization.
Associated With: Agricultural Biodiversity, Habitat benefits section, re-establishment passage
By adding this vegetated area of land near a water source, it increases biodiversity by allowing species an area to re-establish after being displaced due to non-conservation land use.
Associated With: Nutrient Cycling, Water quality benefits section, sediment and nutrients passage
Riparian buffers intercept sediment and nutrients.
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