Of all the rangeland regions, riparian areas are the most ecologically important and the most sensitive to degradation. Riparian areas require special consideration in management strategies.

Riparian Vegetation: Western Wetland Flora

Livestock Impacts on Riparian Areas

In the absence of proper management livestock can do a great deal of damage to riparian areas. Livestock, especially cattle, tend to congregate and mill about riparian areas, seldom venturing out onto the uplands. This heavy use pattern leads to extensive trampling of riparian vegetation, creating a wider, shallower and warmer stream channel, damage to wildlife habitat and damage to fisheries.

Grazing and increased nitrogen deposition, due to livestock urinating and defecating, has been shown to significantly increase above ground biomass over riparian areas not grazed by livestock. The increased nitrogen in the soil sometimes causes plants to mature and senesce 2 to 4 weeks earlier, which may cause a decrease in the efficiency of biomass production and fruiting in the long term. Nitrogen also decreases root/shoot ratios and reduced rooting activity. Continued deposition of nitrogen, in the long run, could have negative impacts on riparian areas. (Martin and Chambers, 2001)

Fore more information on the effects of livestock on riparian areas see the Cows and Fish website.

Restoration Techniques for Riparian Areas

Caring for riparian areas in urban settings: Taking Care of Streams, and Rangeland settings: A Guide to Riparian Areas in Rangelands

Restoration of riparian areas requires innovative and comprehensive management plans. Riparian areas must be considered as separate management units than the rest of range. Management plans that lump riparian areas in with large pastures are not adequate to protect fisheries. It is important to have a clear, stated goal/s that is/are measurable so that restoration efforts can be plausibly deemed successful or not. A number of techniques can be employed in riparian restoration.

Aeration of trampled, compacted soil can increase root activity and so may affect the long-term productivity and community structure of riparian areas (Martin and Chambers, 2001).

Seeding a damaged area is a common practice in some rangeland restoration plans. However, seeding has had very limited success in some studies and early seral species tended to outperform the seeded species. Forb species tend to decrease in some studies of riparian restoration while grasses increased. (Martin and Chambers, 2001) Where a natural seedbank is close-by, bulldozing (in order to kill early weed species) and irrigation for the first two growing seasons can lead to successful reestablishment of native riparian vegetation on disturbed sites (Friedman et.al., 1995). Where weedy species pose a great challenge to establishment of native vegetation the top layer of soil can be removed in order to remove the seedbank of weedy species (Baird, 1989). This should only be done in extreme cases since loss of topsoil has many obvious drawbacks. In some cases, where practicable, hand weeding can be employed until native vegetation has gained a good foothold.

Water table characteristics (depth, variability) affect the success rate of certain seeded species and are critical to the results of restoration attempts. Becoming familiar with the water table is important to restoration efforts of riparian areas. (Martin and Chambers, 2001)

Other possible management practices include herding livestock away from riparian zones, where they tend to congregate, selective culling of problem animals, diet and water supplements placed away from riparian areas, placing trailing areas away from stream sides and using appropriate livestock (e.g. sheep rather than cattle in some areas) (May and Davis, 1982).

Riparian Rehabilitation: Russian Knapweed to Basin Wildrye