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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 term riparian comes from the Latin word ripa, 'river bank'; technically it refers only to areas adjacent to flowing bodies of water such as rivers, streams, sloughs and estuaries. However, the terms riparian forest and riparian zone have come to include areas adjacent to non-flowing bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, playas and reservoirs.
The land that interfaces with a water body is that body's riparian zone. Plants in the riparian zone of a river help stabilize its banks to prevent erosion and filter alluvium deposited by the river on the shore, including processing the nitrogen and other nutrients it contains. Forests in a riparian zone also provide important animal habitats ...
Riparian-zone restoration is the ecological restoration of riparian-zone habitats of streams, rivers, springs, lakes, floodplains, and other hydrologic ecologies. A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream .
This stream operating together with its environment can be thought of as forming a river ecosystem. River ecosystems are flowing waters that drain the landscape, and include the biotic (living) interactions amongst plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as abiotic (nonliving) physical and chemical interactions of its many parts.
Examples include areas between grassland and forest, estuaries and lagoon, freshwater and sea water etc. An ecotone may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and grassland ecosystems ). [ 3 ]
The Riparian terrestrial Biome, and the ecoregions within it around the world. The riparian zone's fluvial and landform geography; hydrology and engineering; and restoration and conservation . Riparian forest ecology, plant communities and habitats .
For example, downcutting by a river can lead to increased velocity of a tributary, causing that tributary to erode toward its headwaters. Terraces can also be left behind when the volume of the fluvial flow declines due to changes in climate , typical of areas which were covered by ice during periods of glaciation , and their adjacent drainage ...