Assessing the Effectiveness of Various Riparian Buffer Vegetation Types

Agricultural riparian buffer research has focused on examining water flow through native forest stands or grass filter strips (Sheridan et al. 1999), and has been conducted primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern United States (Jordan et al. 1993; Lowrance et al. 1984). Recently established riparian buffer strips, usually adjacent to crop fields, have become increasingly common in the Midwest. The climate, soils, and hydrology differ considerably between the Midwest and the eastern seaboard, thus the effectiveness of newly planted riparian buffers for filtering agricultural field runoff needs to be documented.