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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.
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the fifteen terrestrial biomes of the earth; the habitats of plant and animal communities along the margins and river banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by aquatic plants and animals that ...
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.
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 English common law . Riparian water rights exist in many jurisdictions with a common law heritage, such as Canada , Australia , New Zealand , and states in the eastern United States .
Flow modification can occur as a result of dams, water regulation and extraction, channel modification, and the destruction of the river floodplain and adjacent riparian zones. [76] Dams alter the flow, temperature, and sediment regime of lotic systems. [6] Additionally, many rivers are dammed at multiple locations, amplifying the impact.
Riparian vegetation on the floodplain of the Lynches River, close to Johnsonville, South Carolina. These tupelo and cypress trees show the high-water mark of flooding. A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands [ 1 ] is an area of land adjacent to a river .
Fluvial terraces are elongated terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplain, other fluvial terraces, or uplands by distinctly steeper strips of land called "risers".
Such activity results in bank erosion minimization, wildlife habitat creation and upland runoff filtration. The type of plants that make up common riparian zones typically include grasses, shrubs and woody trees but the species of each are dependent on the naturally occurring vegetation of the area. [6]