An Assessment of the Need for Protection and Restoration of Riparian Habitats in Georgia

Proceedings of the 1999 Georgia Water Resources Conference, March 30 and 31, Athens, Georgia.Georgia is probably typical of most southeastern states in patterns of land use along streams and resulting impacts to riparian habitats. Land uses along streams vary with stream order, soil type, topography, demographic patterns, and other factors, but may include row crop production, silviculture, residential use, livestock production, recreation, and commercial/industrial development. Resulting impacts also vary greatly from region to region and site to site, but may include the following: loss of vegetative cover, erosive soil loss from streambanks, sedimentation of streams, and changes in flora and fauna of wetland, upland and aquatic habitats. Several different functional aspects of riparian zones have been elucidated in the scientific literature. These include: 1) riparian corridors as buffers for protection of water quality; 2) riparian corridors as regulators of interactions between aquatic and upland systems; and 3) riparian corridors as important wildlife habitat. The need for protection and/or restoration of riparian systems follows from all of these attributes. However, it is important to realize that, in order to be effective, riparian restoration and protection efforts should be planned within the context of an overall strategy for watershed protection. Regional differences in land use patterns and resulting impacts should be examined in developing such strategies.Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of TechnologyThis book was published by the Institute of Ecology, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2202 with partial funding provided by the U.S. Department of Interior, geological Survey, through the Georgia Water Research Insttitute as authorized by the Water Research Institutes Authorization Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-397). The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of the University of Georgia or the U.S. Geological Survey or the conference sponsors