Download or read book Identifying Reference Conditions for Riparian Areas of Ohio written by Patrick Charles Goebel and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Ecology and Management of Headwater Riparian Areas in the Erie Gorges Ecoregion of Northeastern Ohio written by Kathryn Lynn Holmes and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Riparian areas are dynamic components of the landscape that promote many ecosystem functions vital to the health and productivity of forested watersheds. Unfortunately, many riparian areas have been damaged or altered and they no longer function properly to provide these valuable ecosystem services. This is particularly true in Ohio landscapes where past land use activities have significantly altered current riparian areas. Because restoring function to riparian areas will have a positive impact on many current ecological problems, particularly in headwater systems which dominate a watershed network, stream and riparian restoration projects have become quite common. Before active management of riparian areas occurs, research is needed to better understand the ecology of these unique ecotones and to establish reference conditions in all ecoregions. Using hierarchy theory as our basis, we studied the ecological processes and relationships that characterize headwater riparian areas in order to develop reference conditions for the Erie Gorges Ecoregion (Woods et al. 1998) in northeastern Ohio. Ground-flora composition and structure was influenced by stream geomorphology transversely across stream valleys as well as longitudinally across watersheds by hydrologic processes reflected in watershed position, representing the importance of hierarchical ecological processes in the ecoregion. The characteristics and distribution of downed wood across headwater riparian areas varied in relation to hydrogeomorphology with the length of pieces significantly longer as well as the surface area and mean total volume of all downed wood pieces higher outside the bankfull channel than inside, except when standardized by area sampled and mean total volume (m3/ha) is higher inside the bankfull channel than outside. The composition and structure of macroinvertebrate assemblages is strongly related to site-level physical habitat, including aquatic and riparian forest, as well as hydrologic processes reflected in distinct faunas and differing species diversity across watershed positions. Using our understanding of the ecology of headwater riparian areas, we began to develop management plans to initiate scientifically-based restoration efforts and improve long-term sustainability in managed riparian areas and watersheds. Incorporating our knowledge of hierarchical factors and their influence on stream channel structure and riparian function, we functionally delineated riparian areas across a landscape using geospatial tools. Using the functional delineation approach, riparian function is protected as it varies across a landscape, as opposed to a fixed-width buffer approach that may protect land not necessarily riparian along headwater areas and under-protect areas along large order streams and rivers. Finally, we address the need for a prioritization mechanism to maximize restoration efforts across a landscape and develop a model for riparian restoration prioritization. The model integrates ecological knowledge of riparian areas to assess current riparian function and incorporates management objectives to prioritize restoration on a landscape scale.
Download or read book The Application of the QBR Index to the Riparian Forests of Central Ohio Streams written by Stephanie Colwell and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Riparian forests are one of the most threatened ecosystem types in the world. There is a need to develop an ecological index of the quality of riparian habitats. The QBR index ('Qualitat del Bosc de Ribera', or in English, 'Riparian Forest Quality') was developed to score the quality of the habitat in Mediterranean riparian areas, and we have modified the QBR index for use in Central Ohio. The specific objectives of this project were to alter terminology and requirements of the index that are region-specific to Spain, to develop lists of native and non-native tree and shrub species found in riparian forests in Central Ohio, to test the altered index in three study watersheds in Ohio (Big Darby, Little Darby, and Walnut Creek watersheds), and to access the management implications of the index. There are four parts to the QBR index: total riparian cover, cover structure, cover quality, and channel alterations. Only a few changes were made to the original QBR index in order to adapt it for use in Central Ohio. These included increasing the number of tree and shrub species for higher scores due to the increased diversity in the United States compared with Mediterranean areas, adding non-natives shrubs as a negative factor along with non-native trees, adding categories for streambanks with only one side modified, and format changes. All of these alterations resulted in scores that more accurately reflected the habitat quality of riparian forests along Central Ohio streams than the original index would have. Sixty study sites were chosen for testing this index, 20 within each watershed. In these sixty sites, a total of 39 tree species were recorded. One non-native tree species, 23 common native shrub species, and four non-native shrub species also were identified. With our modified index, the Big Darby had the most high-quality sites (with scores>̲95), while the Little Darby had the most poor-quality sites (with scores of ̲50). All sites were placed into habitat quality categories based on their scores. These categories are riparian habitat in natural condition and of excellent quality (scores̲95), some disturbance but good quality (75-90), disturbance important with fair quality (55-70), strong alteration and poor quality (30-50), and extreme degradation with very poor quality (
Download or read book Riparian Areas written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-10-10 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that wetlands be protected from degradation because of their important ecological functions including maintenance of high water quality and provision of fish and wildlife habitat. However, this protection generally does not encompass riparian areasâ€"the lands bordering rivers and lakesâ€"even though they often provide the same functions as wetlands. Growing recognition of the similarities in wetland and riparian area functioning and the differences in their legal protection led the NRC in 1999 to undertake a study of riparian areas, which has culminated in Riparian Areas: Functioning and Strategies for Management. The report is intended to heighten awareness of riparian areas commensurate with their ecological and societal values. The primary conclusion is that, because riparian areas perform a disproportionate number of biological and physical functions on a unit area basis, restoration of riparian functions along America's waterbodies should be a national goal.
Download or read book Landscape Factors Influencing Water Quality and the Development of Reference Conditions for Riparian Restoration in the Headwaters of a Northeast Ohio Watershed written by Kathryn Lynn Holmes and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Riparian areas have been shown been shown to affect water quality and need to be restored to the headwaters of the Sugar Creek watershed to improve water quality and habitat. As successful ecological restoration should emulate the conditions of a natural, undisturbed ecosystem, riparian areas within an old-growth forest in north-central Ohio were studied to serve as a reference ecosystem for the Western Glaciated Allegheny Plateau Ecoregion. Spring and summer ground-flora structure, composition, and distribution along riparian landforms were studied to describe a suite of reference plant community conditions. The results of these analyses suggest that while species richness does not differ among landforms, species composition and structure differ between landforms during both the spring and summer seasons. Information from these studies can be implemented in water quality improvement plans for the headwaters of the Sugar Creek watershed.
Download or read book Effects of Adjacent Land use Practices and Environmental Factors on Riparian Vegetation and Water Quality in the Sugar Creek Watershed Northeastern Ohio written by Heather Lyn Whitman and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Riparian areas provide many critical ecosystem functions, including reducing nutrients and sediments from surface runoff, reducing erosion, and providing shade and organic matter to stream ecosystems. One watershed with highly disturbed riparian areas is the Sugar Creek watershed in northeastern Ohio, which was identified by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency as one of the most degraded in the state. We examined how land-use influences water quality in the South Fork subwatershed of Sugar Creek. These analyses imply that urbanization is associated with total solids, turbidity, conductivity, and the concentration of phosphorus and ammonia. Wooded areas and buffer strips are inversely associated with agricultural land-uses, pH, and nitrate concentration levels. We suggest that restored riparian buffers can help improve water quality by reducing sediment and phosphorus loadings through reducing erosion, and can help alleviate nitrogen loadings via plant uptake. Additionally, understanding these relationships can help farmers and resource managers target specific subwatersheds that require restoration plans to improve overall water quality in the Sugar Creek watershed. To better understand the current condition of riparian areas in the Sugar Creek watershed, and the factors that influence their development, we examined the composition and structure of the ground-flora, sapling, and overstory layers of riparian areas of three subwatersheds of Sugar Creek with contrasting geology and land-use histories. We found that ground-flora species composition was significantly different among riparian areas adjacent to different land-uses in the Upper (P=0.0018) and South Fork (P=0.0450) subwatersheds. Few differences in ground-flora diversity were observed among riparian areas with different adjacent land-uses; however, riparian areas adjacent to grassed pastures had the highest species richness and Shannon Diversity Index in the South Fork subwatershed. We found that many highly invasive, non-native species were present in the ground-flora of riparian areas adjacent to lawns in the Upper subwatershed, grassed pastures in the North Fork subwatershed, and mixed row crop and grassed pastures in the South Fork subwatershed, suggesting that riparian areas adjacent to these land uses require active restoration. Additionally, the presence of these non-native invasive species, including Alliaria petiolata and Schedonorus phoenix, may make it difficult to successfully restore these riparian areas to a more natural condition. We observed few differences in the overstory composition of riparian areas, regardless of adjacent land-use in all three subwatersheds (P=0.3650). Results from ordination analyses supported this conclusion, as we observed strong relationships between individual overstory species, adjacent land-use, physiographic, and stream variables. Despite these similarities, we found significant differences in the overstory structure of riparian areas adjacent to different land-uses, including mean point-to-tree distance (P=0.0000), basal area (P=0.0150), and canopy openness (P=0.0070). Specifically, riparian areas adjacent to wooded land-uses had the most diverse canopy structure in terms of crown class of overstory trees, as well as the most saplings than any other land-use type. This suggests that the riparian areas adjacent to more wooded areas in the Sugar Creek watershed are more structurally complex than those areas adjacent to more frequently disturbed land-uses, such as lawns, pastures, and row crops.
Download or read book Special Circular Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center written by Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and published by . This book was released on 2003-10 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ohio Documents written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Inventory and Monitoring Riparian Areas written by Lewis H. Myers and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Special Circular written by and published by . This book was released on 2003-10 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Riparian Management in Forests of the Continental Eastern United States written by Ellen S. Verry and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1999-12-06 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The timing could not be better for addressing riparian area management and the resulting impacts of surface water. The Forest Service leadership team has identified water and watershed management as the issue of the upcoming decade. These factors and more have moved riparian forests to the forefront of environmental management. Riparian Management in Forests of the Continental Eastern United States gives you the tools you need to take on this task. Each day, thousands of natural resource professionals face the problems involved in managing riparian forests. The challenge: fragmented ownership, fragmented ecosystems, and diverse interest groups. The solution requires a multidisciplinary approach, drawing on a complex mix of government agencies, private interests, and local communities as exemplified in the following initiatives: Chesapeake Bay Program "Save the Bay" Inland West Water Strategy New York City Watershed Project The Pacific Habitat Strategy The Anadromous Fish Habitat Riparian Management in Forests of the Continental Eastern United States summarizes the state-of-the-art in the management of forested riparian areas. It serves as a desktop reference for natural resource administrators, educators, and on-the-ground managers from industry, consulting firms, and municipal, state, and federal agencies who routinely face the complex problems of protecting riparian areas. Features
Download or read book Riparian Ecosystems written by and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Riparian Areas of the Southwestern United States written by Peter F. Ffolliott and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2003-07-28 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The demand for water resulting from massive population and economic growth in the southwestern U.S. overwhelmed traditional uses of riparian areas. As a consequence, many of these uniquely-structured ecosystems have been altered or destroyed. Within recent years people have become increasingly aware of the many uses and benefits of riparian zones a
Download or read book Riparian Areas written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-09-10 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that wetlands be protected from degradation because of their important ecological functions including maintenance of high water quality and provision of fish and wildlife habitat. However, this protection generally does not encompass riparian areasâ€"the lands bordering rivers and lakesâ€"even though they often provide the same functions as wetlands. Growing recognition of the similarities in wetland and riparian area functioning and the differences in their legal protection led the NRC in 1999 to undertake a study of riparian areas, which has culminated in Riparian Areas: Functioning and Strategies for Management. The report is intended to heighten awareness of riparian areas commensurate with their ecological and societal values. The primary conclusion is that, because riparian areas perform a disproportionate number of biological and physical functions on a unit area basis, restoration of riparian functions along America's waterbodies should be a national goal.
Download or read book Influence of Local Riparian Cover and Watershed Runoff Potential on Invertebrate Communities in Agricultural Streams in the Minnesota River Basin written by Jeremy Ryan ZumBerge and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Water resources Investigations Report written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Biological Assessment and Criteria written by Wayne S. Davis and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1995-03-03 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biological Assessment and Criteria presents a state-of-the-art overview of the applications of biological assessments and biocriteria for water quality management in fresh waters. The book presents case studies which illustrate how bioassessment has been used to identify and diagnose water quality problems. It also provides examples of the use of qualitative and quantitative biocriteria as regulatory tools to complement water quality criteria and standards. The first book to present the technical foundation, rationale, program and policy relevance, and legal basis for the most accurate tools used to assess freshwater natural resource and regulatory efforts, this book provides useful and timely information for water quality managers.
