"Riparian" redirects here. For the legal doctrine, see riparian water rights.
Not to be confused with Ripuarian language.
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A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream.[2] In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a riparian zone. The word riparian is derived from Latin ripa, meaning "river bank".[3]
Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth.[4] Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by hydrophilic plants.[5] Riparian zones are important in ecology, environmental resource management, and civil engineering[6] because of their role in soil conservation, their habitat biodiversity, and the influence they have on terrestrial and semiaquatic fauna as well as aquatic ecosystems, including grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, and even non-vegetative areas.[7]
Riparian zones may be natural or engineered for soil stabilization or restoration.[8] These zones are important natural biofilters, protecting aquatic environments from excessive sedimentation, polluted surface runoff, and erosion.[9] They supply shelter and food for many aquatic animals and shade that limits stream temperature change.[10] When riparian zones are damaged by construction, agriculture or silviculture, biological restoration can take place, usually by human intervention in erosion control and revegetation.[11] If the area adjacent to a watercourse has standing water or saturated soil for as long as a season, it is normally termed a wetland because of its hydric soil characteristics. Because of their prominent role in supporting a diversity of species,[12] riparian zones are often the subject of national protection in a biodiversity action plan. These are also known as a "plant or vegetation waste buffer".[13]
Research shows that riparian zones are instrumental in water quality improvement for both surface runoff and water flowing into streams through subsurface or groundwater flow.[14][15] Riparian zones can play a role in lowering nitrate contamination in surface runoff, such as manure and other fertilizers from agricultural fields, that would otherwise damage ecosystems and human health.[16] Particularly, the attenuation of nitrate or denitrification of the nitrates from fertilizer in this buffer zone is important.[17] The use of wetland riparian zones shows a particularly high rate of removal of nitrate entering a stream and thus has a place in agricultural management.[18] Also in terms of carbon transport from terrestrial ecosystems to aquatic ecosystems, riparian groundwater can play an important role.[19] As such, a distinction can be made between parts of the riparian zone that connect large parts of the landscape to streams, and riparian areas with more local groundwater contributions.[20]
^Dickard, M., M. Gonzalez, W. Elmore, S. Leonard, D. Smith, S. Smith, J. Staats, P. Summers, D. Weixelman, S. Wyman (2015). "Riparian area management: Proper functioning condition assessment for lotic areas". Technical Reference 1737-15. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Denver, CO.
^"Riparian Areas Environmental Uniqueness, Functions, and Values". Archived from the original on 11 June 2020.
^Read "Riparian Areas: Functions and Strategies for Management" at NAP.edu. 2002. doi:10.17226/10327. ISBN 978-0-309-08295-2.
^"Riparian Zone: Definition and Characteristics". Biology Dictionary. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
^Read "Riparian Areas: Functions and Strategies for Management" at NAP.edu. 2002. doi:10.17226/10327. ISBN 978-0-309-08295-2.
^Burdon, Francis J.; Ramberg, Ellinor; Sargac, Jasmina; Forio, Marie Anne Eurie; de Saeyer, Nancy; Mutinova, Petra Thea; Moe, Therese Fosholt; Pavelescu, Mihaela Oprina; Dinu, Valentin; Cazacu, Constantin; Witing, Felix; Kupilas, Benjamin; Grandin, Ulf; Volk, Martin; Rîşnoveanu, Geta (April 2020). "Assessing the Benefits of Forested Riparian Zones: A Qualitative Index of Riparian Integrity Is Positively Associated with Ecological Status in European Streams". Water. 12 (4): 1178. doi:10.3390/w12041178. hdl:1854/LU-8662065. ISSN 2073-4441.
^"Riparian Ecosystem - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
^Gregory, Stanley V.; Swanson, Frederick J.; McKee, W. Arthur; Cummins, Kenneth W. (1991). "An Ecosystem Perspective of Riparian Zones". BioScience. 41 (8): 540–551. doi:10.2307/1311607. ISSN 0006-3568. JSTOR 1311607.
^"Riparian zone - NatureSpots App - Let's explore Nature together". www.naturespots.net. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
^"Riparian Zone - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
^"The Ecology of Interfaces—Riparian Zones" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
^"Riparian zone - NatureSpots App - Let's explore Nature together". www.naturespots.net. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
^Dosskey, Michael G.; Vidon, Philippe; Gurwick, Noel P.; Allan, Craig J.; Duval, Tim P.; Lowrance, Richard (April 2010). "The Role of Riparian Vegetation in Protecting and Improving Chemical Water Quality in Streams 1: T he R ole of R iparian V egetation in P rotecting and I mproving C hemical W ater Q uality in S treams". JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association. 46 (2): 261–277. doi:10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00419.x. S2CID 1485368.
^Tomer, Mark D.; Dosskey, Michael G.; Burkart, Michael R.; James, David E.; Helmers, Matthew J.; Eisenhauer, Dean E. (2005). "Placement of riparian forest buffers to improve water quality". In: Brooks, K.N. And Ffolliot, P.F. (Eds) Moving Agroforestry into the Mainstream. Proc. 9th N. Am. Agroforest. Conf. Rochester, MN. 12–15 June 2005.
^Pedraza, Sara; Clerici, Nicola; Zuluaga Gaviria, Jennifer D.; Sanchez, Adriana (January 2021). "Global Research on Riparian Zones in the XXI Century: A Bibliometric Analysis". Water. 13 (13): 1836. doi:10.3390/w13131836. ISSN 2073-4441.
^Chukwuka, Azubuike Victor; Ogbeide, Ozekeke (21 April 2021), "Riparian-Buffer Loss and Pesticide Incidence in Freshwater Matrices of Ikpoba River (Nigeria): Policy Recommendations for the Protection of Tropical River Basins", River Basin Management - Sustainability Issues and Planning Strategies, IntechOpen, ISBN 978-1-83968-131-8, retrieved 21 May 2023
^Ledesma, José L. J.; Grabs, Thomas; Bishop, Kevin H.; Schiff, Sherry L.; Köhler, Stephan J. (August 2015). "Potential for long-term transfer of dissolved organic carbon from riparian zones to streams in boreal catchments". Global Change Biology. 21 (8): 2963–2979. Bibcode:2015GCBio..21.2963L. doi:10.1111/gcb.12872. PMID 25611952.
^Leach, J. A.; Lidberg, W.; Kuglerová, L.; Peralta-Tapia, A.; Ågren, A.; Laudon, H. (July 2017). "Evaluating topography-based predictions of shallow lateral groundwater discharge zones for a boreal lake-stream system". Water Resources Research. 53 (7): 5420–5437. Bibcode:2017WRR....53.5420L. doi:10.1002/2016WR019804. S2CID 134913198.
riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a riparianzone. The word riparian is derived from...
Riparian water rights (or simply riparian rights) is a system for allocating water among those who possess land along its path. It has its origins in...
banks. Riparianzones are transition zones between an upland terrestrial environment and an aquatic environment. Organisms found in this zone are adapted...
A riparian buffer or stream buffer is a vegetated area (a "buffer strip") near a stream, usually forested, which helps shade and partially protect the...
zone is extremely important. As an important part of riparianzone, the vegetation buffer zones form a variety of landscape, and the landscape pattern...
are four ecosystems, or zones, in Rocky Mountain National Park: montane, subalpine, alpine tundra, and riparian. The riparianzone occurs throughout all...
biological habitat in the immediate vicinity of a stream is called a riparianzone. Given the status of the ongoing Holocene extinction, streams play an...
for aircraft, separated by blast walls Riparianzone – Interface between land and a river or stream Riparian-zone restoration – Ecological restoration of...
species, as well as enabling terrestrial ecosystems to thrive in the riparianzones. Rivers are significant to humankind since many human settlements and...
history. River is the main expression used for river channels themselves, riparianzones, floodplains and terraces, adjoining uplands dissected by lower channels...
meet the Bay of Bengal. The upper riparianzone of the river is called the Bhagirathi while the lower riparianzone is called the Hooghly. Major and minor...
(/ˈboʊskeɪ/ BOHSS-kay) is a type of gallery forest habitat found along the riparian flood plains of streams, river banks, and lakes. It derives its name from...
the water system. The shore zone is the transitional zone between the water systems and land, similar to the riparianzone seen in running water systems...
A canebrake or canebreak is a thicket of any of a variety of Arundinaria grasses: A. gigantea, A. tecta and A. appalachiana. As a bamboo, these giant grasses...
Frémont's cottonwood, is a cottonwood (and thus a poplar) native to riparianzones of the Southwestern United States and northern through central Mexico...
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new...
A polder (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈpɔldər] ) is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as...
Fluvial terraces are elongated terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level...
like Thal Desert to avoid soil erosion and further desertification. Riparianzone along the river Indus have been managed to avoid excess flooding. According...
A high water mark is a point that represents the maximum rise of a body of water over land. Such a mark is often the result of a flood, but high water...
into the Indian Ocean. The river bushwillow is a riparian tree in this habitat. These riparianzones offer habitat for birds, reptiles and mammals that...
springs and access to natural resources, such as riparian water rights and access to the riparianzone of rivers or streams. Intangible examples may include...
Price, Steven J.; Dorcas, Michael E. (21 November 2009). "Pond age and riparianzone proximity influence anuran occupancy of urban retention ponds". Urban...
source. Improper grazing of riparian areas can contribute to nonpoint source pollution of riparian areas. Riparianzones in arid and semiarid environments...
rhizomes, that allow atmospheric oxygen to be transported to the rooting zone. Hence, many wetlands are dominated by plants with aerenchyma; common examples...