Why Is Streamside/Riparian Vegetation Important?

Vegetation along rivers and streams (riparian vegetation plays an important part in maintaining and improving the quality of our rivers and streams. The type, density and width of riparian vegetation provide a crucial link between terrestrial and stream ecosystems.  There are a wide variety of incentive programs for the protection, enhancement and restoration of riparian corridors.

Riparian Corridors Provide:

Habitat For Wildlife - Native vegetation provides food and shelter, while also providing a corridor for the movement and refuge of wildlife.

Food, shade and shelter for aquatic organisms - Riparian vegetation provides vegetable matter, which breaks down and provides food for aquatic invertebrates.  Shade form riparian vegetation helps maintain cool water temperatures in pools.  In addition, fallen branches, large woody debris and aquatic plants provide habitat for fish and crustaceans.

Stream bank and bed stability - Native riparian vegetation is important in the prevention of stream bank erosion. Vegetation binds soil and "roughness" that reduces stream flow rates, particularly during floods.  Vegetation at the "toe" of riverbanks is especially important to riverbank stability, particularly on outside bends of meanders and on other banks where flow is deflected.

A buffer to excessive nutrient and sediments loadings - Vegetated riparian zones maintain water quality by filtering sediment and nutrients, and reducing the amounts of water entering a water course.  Any vegetation that provides a dense cover at ground level will be an effective filter.

Aesthetic benefit and intrinsic value - Riparian vegetation has an inherent aesthetic and intrinsic worth that is difficult to value in monetary terms.  People value the aesthetic or intrinsic features of riparian areas differently.  This often depends on their association with and understanding of these areas.  For many landowners, the aesthetic appeal of trees on farms is a primary motivation for wanting to manage river and creek systems.

This project was financed in part through a grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency  and the United States Environmental Protection  Agency, under the provisions of Section 319(h) of the Clean Water Act.  These grant  monies were matched in part or totally through funding by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency  (NOACA) and in-kind contributions from local agencies.